Jennie Guy
Other* Other? Other!
Over the course of two days in September 2015, the Art School project invited the artists Rhona Byrne and Vanessa Donoso Lopez to work with students at Gaelscoil de hÍde and Scoil Mhuire in Roscommon to develop work that identifies, examines, and celebrates otherness in a variety of ways.
Other* Other? Other! – Video Documentation
Vanessa Donoso Lopez looked at the idea of being a stranger in another country, where you can look for similarities from your own country, celebrate your difference and sometimes feel homesick. Working with the artist, the students learned that hand-made clay from the Wicklow mountains has more fun than machine-made clay. Vanessa explored the use of this clay within her own practice, drawing examples from her recent solo show, Eye Before E Except After See in Limerick City Gallery of Art. Vanessa and the students continued by creating links between Roscommon and Barcelona, exploring the work of the architect Antoni Gaudí. The result of their collaboration is a delicate but touchable floor-based installation of ceramic tiles, incorporating natural forms sourced in Roscommon.
Rhona Byrne and the students discussed ideas of passing though different spaces, focusing on thresholds (doorways and portals) and proxemics (exploring boundaries and notions of personal and shared space). Rhona showed the students examples of her recent work that was developed as part of a residency in Facebook, which is currently featured in a solo show, Huddle tests at Temple Bar Gallery and Studios in Dublin. Rhona and the students experimented with space, installation, and wearable sculptures, resulting in a wearable sculpture made for two people and a second sculpture made for eleven people.
Working with footage captured during both of the artists’ workshops, Jennie Guy has made a short film that will be displayed along with the works in the exhibition, allowing new audiences to discover the nature of the collaboration between the artists and the students.
For the occasion of the exhibition opening, Jennie Guy, Vanessa Donoso Lopez and Rhona Byrne have selected a series of short films as part of a screening event. Along with the screenings there will be a tour through the exhibition space with both artists, who will invite the students to revisit the artworks that they made together.
Thanks to Rhona Byrne and Vanessa Donoso Lopez; the students, teachers, and staff of both schools; Linda Shevlin (Curator in Residence for Roscommon County Council and Roscommon Art Centre); assisting artists Breda Coyne and Nollaig Molloy; and all the team in the Roscommon Arts Centre.
Thanks to Linda Shevlin, Breda Coyne and Nollaig Molloy. This project is supported by the Roscommon Arts Centre and Roscommon County Council.