Less Talk More Action

Frog and Toad's 'Less Talk More Action', the creation of Belfast Circus School's 24 hour cabaret task was set on Wednesday evening, created on Thursday and performed on Friday by randomly selected partners trust together from a lucky dip of names plucked from the school's disused tombola. 

Aaltje and I played with the common vocabulary we had - acrobalance, quickly disregarding the juggling equipment we intended to use. Aaltje is an amazing base, and although I need some work on the flying front, I thoroughly enjoyed scrambling around Aaltje and found the challenge extremely refreshing and inspiring. We took a playful approach by adapting some of the acro-moves we have learned over the last few months, and stumbled upon the frog and toad idea through some of our exploration of movement. Our play and appearances kind of reminded me of the Frog and Toad stories of my childhood (previously posted about here). I'm thinking this frog thing will be further explored in the near future :)

For Ever Love: Video piece with Laura Sheeran

Yesterday was spent helping Laura Sheeran finish the edits on our video collaboration for 'For Ever Love', the single from her upcoming album, What the World Knows, due for release on good Friday, 6th April. We shot the video a few months ago in the Sugar Club, Dublin (Thanks to Oisín!) which I previous posted about here. As previously blogged: "For Ever Love was originally featured in 'Paperdolls' as my solo music for aerial silks, complementing the feminine and sexy qualities of the fabric". Featuring the glittery visuals of Susan Walsh and Jacinta Jardine and also the costume made by Jacinta Jardine for the PaperDolls production, we also incorporated footage from the live show filmed by Bob Gallagher in the Complex during our run of "Paperdolls" at ABSOLUT Fringe 2011. The result is a spectacular culmination of an ongoing cross-disciplinary collaboration, the documentation of a previously live event, the creation of something new from that initial production and a collection of really precious personal memories of a wonderful experience and time in my life. I hope you enjoy it too!

Filmed by

Murray Cummings

Conor McCague

My friend and fellow collaborator Donal Foreman

Live footage by Bob Gallagher

The single, which originally featured in PaperDolls show last September, is now available for free download:

Laura Sheeran - Forever Love (FREE download) by L A U R A S H E E R A N

EA / DA (2011)

"Here is a little film I made over a year ago with the wonderful Emily Aoibheann - the first, spontaneous experiment in an ongoing collaboration..." 

Donal Foreman, film maker and awesome person! Featuring music by one night only band The Boom Boom Parade, which I was part of.  

The video auto-plays so I took it down, but you can watch it here: http://vimeo.com/36572574

PaperDolls: Picturing the Soul

Interesting projects are afoot...

PaperDolls: Picturing the Soul
A multi-disciplinary performance and exhibition artistically exploring the concept of the soul
The Back Loft
February 18th & 19th

www.picturingthesoul.wordpress.com
www.paperdollsperformance.com

For Ever Love: A collaboration.

I love working with people who fulfill their intentions and musician Laura Sheeran is one such person - an absolute creative dynamo who follows her creative inclinations through to the end. We were shooting a video for Laura's single 'For Ever Love' from her upcoming album What the World Knows. For Ever Love was originally featured in 'Paperdolls' as my solo music for aerial silks, complementing the feminine and sexy qualities of the fabric. We spent Thursday shooting elements of my aerial routine, incorporating the visuals by artists Susan Walsh and Jacinta Jardine which were created for my character in the 'Paperdolls' show. Here are some pictures of our work, with a clip of Laura's track below (Many thanks to Oisín Davis and the staff of the Sugar Club, Conor McCague, Murray Cummings, Donal Foreman, Jack and Erin who participated in different ways to the day's production!) Video coming soon:

Photos by Laura Sheeran

Forever Love /// preview by L A U R A S H E E R A N

The Parameters of the Gothic

(photo: Lisa-Marie Johnson)

All the way back in 2009 I was invited to perform alongside artist Lisa-Marie Johnson in a piece called 'The Parameters of the Gothic'. This was my first jaunt into the realm of performance art and apart from a few experiments, I haven't had much of an opportunity to explore the discipline further as a practitioner. I've certainly read a lot about and been inspired by the ideas and visions generated by women performance artists - Amanda Coogan has been a huge inspiration to me in particular. I came across these images recently - above, the National College of Art and Design end of year show in March 2009 which took place in the since closed Light House cinema in Smithfield and below, performing in the vast Shunt Gallery, London, June 2009 as part of a MART ensemble exhibition. During the performance I got to randomly shave my head! It was art, clearly! After the performance in London, a woman approached me and said she was a scout for Eastenders and was very impressed by my performance. That was almost as bizarre as the performance itself.

Lisa-Marie says of her work at the time:

My work considers the notion of public space how we as inhabitants of our dwellings consider consumerism,it carries conditions like a human condition, a very real facilitation of a new island or state belonging, space and site has the ability to be transformed into an urban natural, in that, it can be looked at, it can be thought about and understood, it can even be traded as cultural capital, it can be experienced in all these ways and yet also realised it is residues of a homeland , my home my land .This work is to do with social change and how we evolve in an urbanised context .While also questioning a form of public art, what public are we affecting and how much and how does live art deal with this direct public response /relationship.

PaperDolls are GO!

Want to know why I haven't been around here recently?

PaperDolls are GO!

ABSOLUTFringe is launching tonight and we are officially announcing our new show, the self-titled 'Paperdolls'! We are also launching our Fund It campaign! And our new website! I'm so excited! We teamed up with the young Will Eames for our Fringe photo shoot, with glorious results!

Want to know more about our new show?

Bob Gallagher helped us put together an amazing promo video:

You can be a patron of my biggest and most exciting project yet here:

There are lots of cool rewards to be had!

And check out our new website!

www.paperdollsperformance.com

Thanks to Paul for all the help setting this up.

MORE ABOUT PAPERDOLLS

IN THE BEGINNING...

It all started when four young ladies gathered to discuss a mutual problem: they wanted to fly but had nowhere to do it in their city. Their driving passion was aerial – performing with airborne circus equipment like trapeze, hoop, rope and silks. After years of ad-hoc aerial training they had run out of patience and so began a search for a space to develop their aerial craft. As fate would have it, they soon found their performance home - the Complex, a city-center venue that was the answer to their prayers. From vastly diverse backgrounds, the Dolls found the creative chemistry between them urgently needed an outlet. They had met each other for a reason, to realise their childhood imaginings of wild adventures, mystifying spectacles and immensely invigorating happenings.

IN THE NOW...

The PaperDolls know the talent that exists in the city of Dublin and have immersed themselves in the hidden creative secrets that a city like this cultivates. Borrowing from their past lives as visual artists, musicians, circus kids, cabaret performers, yogis, carpenters and writers, PaperDolls incorporate a host of youthful Irish talent in their creative conquests. With the success of their inaugural show at Body and Soul festival agitating the embers, PaperDolls are currently developing a most ambitious project for ABSOLUT Fringe 2011 and are extremely excited about it.

The Dolls are working with musician Laura Sheeran to develop an original and integrative score, Ambisonics technician Michael Kearns to create a multi-directional, immersive audio experience and artist Susan Walsh on visual and lighting design. We have a large team of set designers and installation artists designing and constructing a labyrinthine stage set inside the Complex, with members of Lace and Wine creating the sights and sounds waiting to be discovered in the passages of the paper maze.

IN THE FUTURE...

We are determined that Dublin will become a place where artists and performers can train in aerial and go on to stage high quality theatrical productions. We aspire to contribute to the small network of aerial practitioners in Ireland, to make aerial an accessible activity for both professional and public participants. We want to help make Dublin a place that cultivates artists and performers, to help create an environment which supports the development of new work in the city and see our work flourish here.

PaperDolls are Emily Aoibheann, Elaine McCague, Karen Anderson and Niamh Creely.

A BIG THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS HELPED US GET THIS FAR, in particular for your recent help: Jon, Bob, Paul, Alex, Kat, Laura, Mick, Mam.

Shape & Situation: Gráinne Mhaile

Ooo look, exciting. The second issue of the Inspirational Women Poster Book from the brilliant Melanie Maddson of Colouring Outside the Lines fanzine.My contribution to the first issue was a poster dedicated to the beauty, mystery and wit of Dolly Wilde mentioned here. For this issue, I've traveled (sailed to be precise) back in time, way back into my own familial heritage to pay homage to a relative of mine, Granuaile, the Pirate Queen. She is also know as Gráinne Mhaol, Gráinne Mhaile, Gráinne Ni Mháille and Grace O'Malley. I only have anecdotal information about this aunt of mine, but knowing I have pirate blood in me is enough.

Blackbird and Rufus: Tank Girl

Dublin's Tank Girl and her human-animal hybrid beau Booga at Dr. Sketchy's mentioned previously, as captured by the lovely and talented Peter Griffin of Griff Pics (see here). Well well well, something very interesting and exciting has occurred since all this Tank carry-on spirited me back to my punk lady roots! Who knew that the Tank Girl comics were alive and well, with a new team duo continuing the series in their own style. I was intrigued! The lovely and fascinating artist Rufus Dayglo and I have struck up a friendly correspondence and there seems to be potential for a future collaboration of some sort. In the meantime, I intend to interview him about his take on Tank Girl, the continuation of a comic book legacy and racking his brains for more joyous tales of beloved coffee houses, round the world travels and jumble finds.

The image below appears in black and white in Team Tank Girl's 'We hate TANK GIRL', but Rufus posted it in colour on his fbook. He describes it as the guide art for the painting done by his hero Gerry Talaoc, who he has collaborated with. Interesting story - he's full of interesting stories!

You can find out more at the following online addresses~:

http://www.tank-girl.com

http://rufusdayglo.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/TEAM_TANK_GIRL

On matters visual.

This weekend Robyn of electronic band Catscars celebrated the launch of her debut, self recorded album entitled, 'Construction'. During the Summer a few years ago, Robyn and Niamh (a.k.a. Angkorwat) spent an afternoon letting me boss them around while I took photos and videos on the roof of my house, an image of which is featured in the sleeve of the record. The video became visuals for my Cixous Ghost project as posted about here. It's been ages since I've taken any photos or had time for film making, but I'm currently resurrecting a few video projects from the last two years and giving them an airing.

Lisa's Binding Television, a video piece created in collaboration with Jane Austen R.I.P. (Angeline Chirnside and second member of Avanti Maria!) featuring performer and activist Lisa Connell, will be screened as part of 'Turn The Light On' one day art and film festival taking place on the 6th of March in the Exchange, Dublin.

Here's the blurb:

A video piece with numerous soundtracks, Lisa's Binding Television (2010) was originally filmed in collaboration with musician Jane Austen R.I.P. as visual accompaniment for two shows in Japan and her native New Zealand. The film depicts Lisa Connell, a drag and cabaret performer and a gay rights activist, binding and unbinding her breasts in a ritualistic fashion as is common for male impersonators in preparation for performance. Edited to the rhythms of a random playlist, snippets of the editing process are accidentally captured in the final cut, emphasising the various synchronous possibilities of interaction between visual and audio and the organic interconnection of both.

Lisa's Binding Television

by Emily Aoibheann

The Exchange, Dublin

March 6th, from 10am

Screenings from 14.30pm until 15.20pm (provisional)

Scanner: Declan Kelly

I visited the creative dynamo Declan Kelly in Galway before Christmas and we made art, raspberry sushi and various trips on buses. He is a very interesting photographer, scientist, experimenter, as knowledgeable about the history of photography and technical techniques as he is open to implusive experiments and possible miracles. He's a bloody good musician too. We've just started a music based collaboration where I send him passages of writing and specific themes to which he composes and developes musical scores. I hope to feature his creations in some of the film and performance projects I have up my sleave for 2011. SMASHING.

http://declan-kelly.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/declanqkelly

Dolly Wilde: Inspirational Women Poster Book

The new zine, 'Shape & Situate: Posters of Inspirational European Women,
curated by Melanie Maddison.

Melanie Maddison of fanzine Colouring Outside the Lines has produced a new fanzine to which I have contributed a poster, dedicated to Dolly Wilde, niece of Oscar Wilde. She has also asked me to submit a poster for the next edition, which I really look forward to starting.

After much effort and deliberation, this was my final submission to the current edition:

I found Dolly a really hard person to illustrate. From what little I know of her, she was an elusive character, someone I would have been absolutely enamoured with and intimidated by, an effect sophisticated, glamourous and extremely intelligent women tend to have on me. The elements I love about Dolly are her performative pursuits (she was well known for her impersonations of her uncle Oscar), her sense of humour (she was a famously witty woman), her self-indulgence, her commitment to living luxuriously (even if that meant having no financial independence worth talking about and having severe addiction issues), being in an openly gay and polyamorous relationship for most of her life, for driving an ambulance in WWII (she loved driving motor cars really fast!), for never documenting her writing and inadvertently protesting the privilege of written text over oral history (very important for me and one of the main reasons I decided I wanted to depict her in a poster for Melanie's fanzine).

I really cannot wait to get my copy of this fanzine from the UK (where Melanie is based) and I hope to eventually have some for selling too. Let me know if you would like a copy: owlbusyness@gmail.com

Here are some of the many posters/ images I created whilst trying to figure out how best to depict Dolly, from my point of view:

Nicky Teegan's Crude Music.

- THE TAPE CIRCLES PROJECT -

This project is concerned with our fundamental need for communication. The hand built instruments act as a vehicle to link people together through the use of sound experimentation. It serves as a tool in building temporary autonomous communities and permanently binding them together on this single document.

The instrument is passed amongst different individuals for a certain period of time, in which the user can create a unique composition that will be recorded onto a cassette tape. The instrument will then be passed onto another user, alongside the original tape. They will be given the same instructions to use the instrument for the same period of time.

When a new composition is recorded it will be edited back onto the first tape and passed onwards, creating layers of sound, and bringing the lines of communication closer together. The overlaying compositions will be edited together to create one unique composition. As it will be all recorded onto one cassette tape, the composition will also have phantom sounds of the past recordings within the tape. The project is designed to evolve through each new user.

All tapes are edited together and all of the people involved will be posted the final edited cassette tape will be posted to each contributor.

Heart-Cake and Gore.

Mange Cake. Eat Heart. Ingest Love. Consume Want.
Gobble Desire. Devour Adoration.

GORLESQUE
Epiphany DeMeanour and
Lady Blackbird
28th of October
Under The Mezz
€10

Tightrope walker in FULL COLOUR

Some wonderful shots of the video shoot I did with Bob Gallagher and Colum O'Dwyer, mentioned here and here. Most of the photos were taken by Colum, but I took the last four, if not the last six, of which I'm proud - I like when point and shoot turns up good.
(As for the shoot, it looks better in colour, shhhh!)