Issue Based Art 2012

This project examines the change in cultural values in West Cork over the last 25 years. This is symbolised by the distillation (or not) of  poitin or white whiskey as it is often called in the area. The drop of hot punch traditionally offered to visiting guests used always to be made with locally and illicitly distilled whiskey made from barley. It was a symbol of the independence of the rebel county and no house, rich or poor would ever be without a bottle of the white stuff, generally stashed under the sink with the bleach etc.

 These days the custom is dying out, the people meekly accept the inevitability of getting caught and punished for making  whiskey as they accept all the other laws imposed on them by a native Irish police force increasingly disconnected from local communities. People accept it, of course because they no longer care that much and because it comes with gilt trappings; New cars and tractors, houses/bungalows, central heating and posh clothes and all!

 Below are some images I have made in Photoshop with a view to developing my ideas. I am making a stop-frame animation and I have taken one of the frames from a sequence showing barley growing as the basis of this image. Other elements I have introduced are stills (no pun intended) from the work of William Kentridge who is well known for the use of stop-frame. There are also some paintings by Jean Labourdette mainly because he is an artist who has only recently come to my attention and I am attracted to his work, but also because his unusual style mixes a sort of larger than life visual character analysis of the face very realistically achieved with a two dimensional cartoon body in a variety of contexts, each contained within an integral frame. So I wonder if this sort of combination could be made to work in stop-frame animation. The photograph by Simon Norfolk of a border post in Afghanistan, a canvass ‘gateway’ guarded by a solitary mujahedinn seems to represent the elusiveness of all borders and at the same time the tenacity with which they can be maintained in the face of adversity. By borders I naturally include cultural divides.

Click on any thumbnail to enter the gallery

 

In the second image I have used one of my preliminary drawings which explores the possibility of using the uillean pipes as a visual metaphor for an alembic or still. I have introduced an old photograph of a poitin still being operated out of doors in the shelter of a stone wall. Such used to be the common practice in the countryside, the still was situated close to a spring and the wall would often have a rudimentary hearth built into it.

The sequence from an Alice Maher animation depicts a person metamorphosing from being friendly, and outgoing into a defensive introvert, symbolised by a hedgehog, as a response to an unfavourable reception. This is a natural response and one that leads you to secrete your still behind a field-wall.

A Hieronymous Bosch style fountain supplies the cooler for the impossible still and this is echoed on the right of the picture by a set of pipes playing themselves, a pair of arms growing out of the bag in order to play the chanter whilst the neck of the bag has taken on the look of a weasel.

 The three Alice Maher camels suggest the arrival of the alembic from north Africa via the Arab world.. The speed camera growing out of the ground suggests a speed camera growing out of the ground and also Orwell’s 1984 as well as the proverb ‘as ye sow so shall ye reap’.

 The background is taken from a painting I made of the top of Haremount in Kilmichael.

I have made mainly rough selections with the rectangular or elliptical marquee, refining the selection afterwards  with either the quick selection tool or the rubber. In blending and fitting the layers together I have, in addition to frequently changing the layer order, used, occasionally the rubber, hard or soft depending on the circumstances, but mainly a layer mask and brush. I use this a lot because it is entirely non-destructive and any part may be restored at random. Used with varying opacities it is an exceptionally flexible tool. I zoom in and out a lot and frequently resize my tool-tip. I have used varying layer opacities. I have also processed some of the original material such as the faded photos using ‘curves’ to enhance the detail by establishing black and white points and making slight adjustments to the curve in the histogram. Some dodging and burning also to make more localised refinements. I have used the clone tool to make up damaged or missing portions.

 

ISSUE BASED ART

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