Please join us for the preview of The Founding Phant during the Riverfest celebrations on Saturday 4 May from 6-8pm.
Alan Magee | Alan Phelan | Anitra Hamilton | Bryan Moore | Caroline Doolin | Darya von Berner | Deirdre Power | Kristian Smith | Levin Haegele | Oisín O'Brien | Padraig Robinson | Róisín McArdle | Sarah Lundy | Tara Woods-Moran | Vanessa Donoso López
Curated by Paul Quast and Joan Stack
Exhibition dates: 5 April - 18 April 2013
www.prequel-ormstonhouse.com
www.ormstonhouse.com
Detail from Freedom of the City (2013) by Deirdre Power, framed photograph and article from the Limerick Leader, 70cm x 70cm. Photo credit: Dermot Lynch. Society today is comprised of a series of spectacles which aim to inspire, astound and encourage reverence to anything which appears striking, out of the ordinary or impressive in nature. Whether the spectacle exists through some exploitation of physics, technology, discovery, détournement or even the intrusion of the extraordinary into the mundane, the ever-evolving nature of the term 'spectacle' remains deeply associated with and reflective of the culture in which it appears; "The spectacle is not a collection of images; rather it is a social relationship between people that is mediated by images.”1
Critical theories state that spectacles manifest themselves as an enormous positive event which exists for the sole purpose of identifying aspects which are unnatural and that the monument of their success becomes their eventual downfall from prestige. However, it is with their striking rise to prominence that spectacles serve the purpose of informing and educating viewers of the reasons behind their reverence. They are a vital part of the way the world is viewed and have been a cornerstone for inspiring the pursual of knowledge, understanding and celebration over millennia.
The foundation for this open call began as a challenge to artists to create their own spectacle in society equal to that of an aged spectacle to take place in Limerick City 200 years ago. The starting point for this challenge stemmed from a Limerick newspaper article,2 published on the 4th May 1813, which detailed the first elephant to visit Limerick City (housed on the site of the current 9-10 Patrick Street building).
____________________________________________________________
1. Society of the Spectacle, Debord, Guy. Zone Books, 1967.
2. Limerick Chronicle, 4th May 1813 edition.
|
|
|
|
