Context Background:
The second phase of In Context, 1999-2003, continued the accomplishments of the In Context 1 Public Art Programme. It was the largest local authority art commissioning programme of its time, and subsequently was held as a model of good practice in Public Art programming. Through In Context 2, South Dublin County Council, advised by consultants Artworking, delivered a diverse series of projects under the auspices of the Per Cent for Art Scheme and funded through the Department of the Environment. This provided both emerging and established artists with an opportunity to engage with the community and to incorporate art into the public domain in new and interesting ways.
Description:
Three Stories consists of three short videos developed through a process of collaboration between the artist Alan Phelan and 14-20 residents from Rathfarnham, Ballyroan, Knocklyn, Templeogue, Firhouse and Tallaght. The focal point for these works was local history.
Participants learned to act, develop script ideas and shoot the videos with the guidance of professional acting tutor Jennifer O’Dea, during a ten-week workshop held at Ballyroan Library, Rathfarnham. The scripting began with discussions about stories and anecdotes of South County Dublin local history. These stories were then grouped and developed into three scenarios based around the themes of Dirt, Lies and Protest. The scenarios provided the framework for the video shoots which, were largely improvised and shot in the County environs. Alan Phelan thoroughly documented the process in a web diary and video clips. Access this at http://www.alanphelan.com
Video Synopsis:
Untitled (Dirt): duration 6:52 minutes. 14 shots of cleaning activities. The idea for this came from stories of conflict between individuals and was distilled into the battle against dirt, as a response to social and personal struggles. The cleaning activities are shown in close up with hands cleaning: spectacles, nails and cuticles, cooked food, a door mat, pebbles, a floor, grout between tiles, a car wheel, football boots, a fire place, a computer keyboard, dusting and cleaning product bottles.
Untitled (Lies): duration 12:28 minutes. 14 shots, pieces to camera by each workshop participant. Many stories involved some kind of deception or falsity, often with people misrepresenting themselves as something they are not. Here each participant told a lie to camera claiming they were not: dishonest, a gossip, obsessively neat, a racist, vain, a flirt, an alcoholic, a chocoholic, forgetful, a gambler, a dealer, a smoker, a thief, and a wife with adulterous husband.
Untitled (Protest): duration 2:24 minutes. Short piece documenting a protest in a park. Corruption was also a common thread, with people eventually rising up and voicing their opinions. The group, however, felt that sometimes protests can be ineffectual and many just enjoy this apparent act of rebellion not really caring what the issue is. The video shows a protest, which seemingly has no purpose, placards are blank, chants are unclear, and an argument between two leaders is nothing but rhetoric or accusatory banter.
Mick Wilson, artist and lecturer, commissioned to write about the project describes the video work; "Across all three pieces the formal play is used to gently propose ideas in an understated way. The nature of these pieces seems to direct the viewer towards a consideration of psychological and social paradoxes or as the artist Alan Phelan has described it: 'creating a snapshot of contemporary anxieties about private and social problems.' There is throughout an economy of means so that the work does not have to disguise its status as video-cam work in order to explore the themes chosen"
Artist Biography:
Alan Phelan, born Dublin, 1968. Received BA,
Dublin City University, 1989 and MFA, Rochester Institute of
Technology, New York, 1994. He has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally. Recent solo exhibitions include; Fragile Absolutes, Chapter, Cardiff, Wales. (2009), Fragile Absolutes, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin with sculpture commission in the Formal Gardens. (2009), Ciao No More Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise. (2009), Ralph Eamon Odo Barbara, mother's tankstation, Dublin. (2007), Bio Bits, The Lab, Dublin. (2006), Fading Fast and The Second Gordon Bennett Memorial Show & Shine - Modified Car Event, Millennium Court Arts Centre, Portadown, Northern Ireland. (2006).
Selected Group Exhibitions and Projects include: Snakes and Ladders, curated by Daniel Figgis, Kevin Barry Room, National Concert Hall , Dublin; Wexford Opera House, Wexford; and Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space, Broadway, New York (2009), Traces: IMMA limited Editions , Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin. (2009), Dennis Farrell, curated exhibition at US Ambassadors Residence, Phoenix Park, Dublin. (2009), Additions 2009, National Self-Portrait Collection, Vincent Bourne Gallery, University of Limerick (2009), Reading the City, EV+A curated by Angelika Nollert and Yilmaz Dziewior, Hunt Museum, Limerick.
Awards and residencies include two awards from the Arts
Council of Ireland (2008-09, 2006 ) and an Artist's Residency in the Irish Museum
of Modern Art, Dublin Belgrade funded by Culture Ireland.
He is represented by mother's tankstation. For more information visit http://www.motherstankstation.com
Mediation:
In Context catalogue, 2002. Essay and Interview by Mick Wilson
Essay reprinted in Bio a catalogue of Alan Phelans work, 2005, produced as part of Tulca.
Commissioner Type:
Local Authority
Commissioner:
South Dublin County Council SDCC
Programme:
In Context 2
PerCent for Art:
yes
Commissioning Process:
Open competition: two stage selection process. Part of a programmatic approach for In Context 2.
Funding:
Dept. of Environment Heritage and Local Government
Budget Range:
10,000 - 30,000
Public Engagement:
A process of collaboration between the artist Alan Phelan and 14-20 residents was inherent to the project.
Associated Professionals:
Project Manager: Artworking - Jenny Haughton & Aisling Prior , Jennifer O'Dea