UCDscholarcast

In this episode Diarmaid Ferriter reads from chapter six of his latest book Occasions of Sin: Sex and Society in Modern Ireland published by Profile Books. Using a huge variety of different sources, Occasions of Sin charts the Irish sexual experience over the course of the twentieth century. In tackling the public and private worlds of Irish sex, this book is groundbreaking in its scope and ambition, covering such subjects as abortion, pregnancy, celibacy, contraception, censorship, infanticide, homosexuality, prostitution, marriage, popular culture, social life and the various hidden Irelands associated with sex and sexual abuse. The book energetically and originally engages with subjects traditionally omitted from the mainstream historical narrative. It also details the interaction between church, state, politicians, lobby groups and private individuals as debates raged over family planning, marriage, gay rights and the role of the media.

In this episode Declan Kiberd reads the closing chapter of his latest book Ulysses and Us: The Art of Everyday Living published by Faber and Faber. Kiberd shows that Ulysses, far from being the epitome of elitism, was always intended as a book for the common people. It was rooted in their experience and offers a humane vision of a decent life under the dreadful pressures of the modern world. Leopold Bloom, the book’s hero, shows the young Stephen Dedalus how he can grow and mature as an artist and as a tolerant, adult human being. Bloom has learned to live with contradictions, with anxiety and sexual jealousy, and with the rudeness and racism of the people he encounters in the streets of Dublin. Apparently banal, he embodies an intensely ordinary kind of wisdom, and in this way offers us a model for living well.

Is archaeology a science? Is archaeology a humanity? What are the politics of spectatorship and archaeological representation? These initial thoughts form the basis for our archaeological explorations. Within current archaeological discourse, there are a growing number of requests for expressions, which illuminate and expose the interpretive and artistic qualities of presentation and narration. Yet few scholars actively utilise expressive practice to explore these philosophical issues. As such, we feel that this is an opportune time to intervene in the visual and textual discourse by issuing a manifesto for our project, building upon our previous works (e.g. Cochrane and Russell 2007). We call for the development of a critically reflexive practice of visual archaeological expressionism, which seeks to contest traditional modes of thought and action.

The presentation is based on my own experience as an artist/practitioner and the experience gained as Director/curator of Sculpture in the Parklands working with both Irish and international artists who have created new artworks that respond to the rich environmental, archaeological and industrial history of Lough Boora, County Offaly. For over 25 years my artwork has explored the subtleties of ritual and imagination. I create artefacts that often combine the textured surfaces and flowing lines of our past with the strong and austere forms of modern architecture. The ultimate goal is to create a work of art that is timeless, thought provoking and responsive to the human spirit. As Director and curator of Sculpture in the Parklands I have been an observer of artistic practice as opposed to directly involved in it. The sculpture park is located in a cut away bog that has been brought back to life over the past ten years through the introduction of lakes and wetland habitats. The sculpture project has added another layer of engagement for visitors to the area by combining visual and conceptual interpretations of geography, landscape, the industrial history of peat harvesting and the people who had lived and worked there. Besides permanent or time based work, the project has a commitment to commissioning video artists, composers, writers and performance artists to interpret and document this unique landscape, archaeology and industrial history.

This short paper offers a personal reflection based on the author’s involvement in the reconstruction phase of the Francis Bacon studio project. During this project, archaeologists were employed to deconstruct or ‘excavate’ the contents of Francis Bacon’s painting studio in London, and meticulously reconstruct the room at Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane. The studio had long been renowned for its wondrously chaotic contents, its floor strewn with the debris of his creative practice, and its walls - which played the role of artist’s pallete - embellished with vibrant pigments. The paper draws on ‘rubbish theory’ relating to the aesthetics of industrial ruins exemplified in the work of Tim Edensor. This research provides a way of exploring why Bacon may have found working in the archaeological equivalent of a ‘midden’ both an efficacious and enjoyable process.

Professor Bailey discusses the various relationships between art and archaeology, and argues that the most exciting current work is pushing hard against the boundaries of both disciplines. His proposal is for archaeologists and artists to take big risks in their work and to cut loose the restraints of their traditional subject boundaries. The result will be work that is neither art nor archaeology, but something else altogether and something that can take the study of human nature into uncharted and exciting new territories.

Introduction to Series 2 of UCDscholarcast by Ian Russell. In the summer of 2008, Ian Russell curated a series of contemporary art projects entitled Abhar agus Meon as part of Ireland’s hosting of the Sixth World Archaeological Congress at University College Dublin. The projects were placed in the shared spaces between the contemporary arts, archaeology and heritage in Ireland. This introduction is a reflective statement and contextualization of the projects and the intellectual history of the relationship between art and archaeology.

Frank McGuinness speaks of his experience of adapting Brian Friel’s Dancing At Lughnasa for the screen, with Meryl Streep in the leading role. Friel has appeared to shy away from film for most of his distinguished career but was deeply influenced by the wider revolutions in acting, writing and directing across all media during the 1960s when modern sensibility took shape. Friel’s writing may have been influenced by Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller but it also owes a debt to powerful films such as Kurosawa’s Rashomon. By reducing the role of the narrator and repositioning the climactic dance sequence, McGuinness attempted to translate what he regarded as a ‘male’ play into ‘a woman’s movie’.

Over the last three decades Bill Whelan has been at the heart of many exciting moments of extraordinary innovation in Irish music across the genres from traditional to rock. Here he documents and considers his varied career to date, from jobbing session musician in the early 1970s to Grammy Award winner in 1997. Donal Lunny and Andy Irvine are recalled as seminal influences on his music during the Planxty years while the founding of Windmill Lane Studios in the 1980s is seen as a landmark moment in the evolution of Irish music across the spectrum. Whelan reflects on Riverdance from inception to global reception. At a time of rapid cultural change he welcomes the creative possibilities brought on by recent immigration to Ireland and argues for the importance of a robust Irish musical tradition.

This lecture examines how contemporary Irish playwrights depict and how they engage the cinematic and narrative patterns we’ve come to associate with American movies. Donal O’Kelly’s Catalpa (1995), Martin McDonagh’s The Cripple of Inishmaan (1996), Marie Jones’s Stones in His Pockets (1999), and Geraldine Hughes’s Belfast Blues (2003) grapple with the effects of Hollywood on their characters and on Irish society. Despite frequently depicting individuals thwarted in their pursuit of big screen success, these plays maintain a surprising optimism about Hollywood. This suggests the American film industry provides a productive tool for exploring Irish identity and history in a moment of rapidly changing, globalized popular culture.