Ireland July and Aug 2007
Ireland 2007
Saturday, July 7
Finished packing clothes last minute because I went to the movies to see Knocked Up, which is hilarious. I ended up forgetting a couple of random things like a swim suit and my USB mouse, but for me that is good, since it didn’t involve any really important things. Though, I guess I will find out just how big of a mishap it was for me to forget a rain jacket…
Met Mira at the Aer Lingus terminal (E). I was last or second-to-last, one or the other. But I thought I was there in ok time. Went through security and met the group at the gate and had a last piece of greasy pizza. The plane ride was typical. Cramped and a little stuffy, nothing out of the ordinary. I read a national geographic article on how colonizers completely changed the new world so that they could adapt and not die, which they had been doing at a significant rate. That kept my attention for the whole ride because I was dozing in and out of consciousness.
Sunday, July 8
Arrived in Shannon at 5:50am. Baggage arrived with me, and that never usually happens, so I was feelin’ good about the trip so far. Actually, everyone’s baggage arrived, which is awesome. Got 100 Euros for myself. Boarded the bus that took us an hour to Ballyvaughan. The drive was entertaining. It was kind of nice that nobody was really talking at this point, because we were finally here and just looking around. We got to our house at around 9:45. It wasn’t what I expected, and that was a good thing. Prior to the trip I thought we were going to get small little apartment flats that held a few people. I didn’t realize we’d all be sharing one big house like a co-ed frat. The house is great. It has plenty of windows and a nice yard, it is a decent walk from school and town, and has a bunch of fun things inside like games and a piano and lots of furniture and a nice kitchen. We unpacked when we decided our rooms. I’m rooming with Dan, which is perfect. I got a strange vibe from him when I first saw him, but when we were introduced and talked a little, I realized he was very friendly and has a funny sense of humor. We have the room at the top of the stairs and straight ahead. When everyone was fairly settled, we all sat downstairs and chatted it up a bit. That was the first time during the trip that I realized that I finally recognized everyone and their name and voice.
We walked into town and were shown all of the good pubs to hit up and we went shopping at Spar, the most expensive shit ever. I bought necessities that will perhaps last me a week to a week and a half, and it was 42 Euro! Can’t wait to get bulk in Galway. Pretty much just can’t wait for Galway period. Walked home in torturous fashion with many weak bags of groceries. But the walk itself is about 15 minutes and under normal conditions is very pleasurable. It wasn’t raining, which it looks like it does often. When I got home I explored a little, and found some cool cow pastures across the road and through a slab of young forest. Inside I found a puzzle of Ireland and Britain that we ended up doing as a group. We are so cool. We got assigned to read a story in a packet, which I had attempted to do, but promptly passed out hardcore. Five hours. When I woke I ate a little food and read the packet of stories (The Art of Collecting Light Bulbs, The Art of Maximizing Your Time, and The Art of Finding Yourself When You’re Lost). I really enjoyed them. I reread them later on. I took a half a roll of pictures when the sun was low and casting a slanting, goldish light. Then my camera died, which is something I don’t know how to deal with because it never has before. I will have to ask someone about it or research it or something. I think it is just the battery, however, which won’t take too much money or effort to fix. At around 11p the last of us (Katie, Jaclyn and Emily) walked in to Monks. Everyone was there, and I got a Smithwicks and a Bushmills and water on ice. I met a couple of locals - Conan, who worked at Monks, and Jarred (a new arrival) and Owen (an Aussie). Later when we went to Logues I met a guy named Damien. They all seemed like good people and I was sincere in my conversations with them. Working at the Black Rose taught me that all Irish people are socially talented, telling good stories and having a good sense of humor, and meeting these gents reconfirmed. Also met a group of kids that has been at the College for 3 weeks - Jesse, Chrisso, Janelle, Angela and Eva are who I remember right now. They are finishing up their stay and their show is this coming Thursday at 4:30, and I am planning on going. I ordered a Guinness in Logues and they closed right after. That was ok with me, I am on a weakly threaded shoestring budget. We walked to the school (briefly stopping at both groups’ houses) and checked out the school and studios (since I missed the chance when several of my housemates went while I was sleeping). We also checked out an abandoned house on the way, and I want to go back there and photograph it. It was Geoff, Katie, Jaclyn, Emily and I with Chrisso and Eva. Chrisso made a tape outline of me on the floor. I ate lots of candy and checked out their work. Then we walked home and I went to sleep. I think it was 2:30 at that point. I had an excellent first day and I am looking forward to working hard and playing hard. I have several ideas for projects. This will be a good trip.
Monday, July 9
8:30 was the time I got up to eat a bite and figure out what I wanted to bring to the studio. I skimmed through our reading again, circling and underlining things that caught my attention the first time, and read a couple chapters of Dubliners. Our ride arrived at 9:30 to take us up to the college. I brought up my paint and computer books and MIDI controller and photography stuff and set myself up in a two-person studio block which I share with Blaire. Then we moved into the lecture hall where the Dean and the Director of the College gave us a brief introduction. We also met Robert and Joe, who also work there and do “high quality janitorial work”, and also the librarian. I decided I am going to really enjoy doing a project here. We have keys to all of the facilities at all hours, which means we have the trust of the staff, which is really awesome. I am in a good mood about this entire ordeal and am confident that I will create a worthwhile project. Afterwards, Rich and Mira lectured us on our readings and gave a slide show. Nobody feels like talking out loud to make the lecture more of a conversation, as usual. Sometimes I get the feeling that Rich is a little too sure of what he has to say. It’s not that he talks a lot, but rather he loves to point out how he feels and emphasizes it as if we should feel that way too. Next time I hear him lecture I will be sure to write down some examples so I don’t sound out of focus. I like how spacey Mira is. Maybe it’s not even that she is spacey but very composed and says only what is necessary, and is honest and respectful enough to not look us in the eyes too much when she is giving an opinion. Instead she looks at the wall behind us or out a window or at the ceiling, as if she was merely talking to someone rather than lecturing. First impressions, though.
After the lecture, I explored the castle. I enjoyed being in there alone, re-imagining how it must’ve been to live in such a place, and who exactly was “privileged” enough to live or work in it. I sat in the bottom section for a while thinking about the acoustics of the small stone room with a dome ceiling. Dan later pointed out how strange it was that a room that wasn’t at the top of the building had a dome ceiling, and I found that interesting as well. As I sat there and clapped and snapped I was inspired to conduct an “Alvin Lucier” experiment, like his composition titled “I Am Sitting In A Room”. I really want to do that before I leave. The higher rooms were interesting as well, especially the top loft, where a wedding was the day before. There is a balcony within the room; it’s very neat.
I came down and got some mushroom soup from the café and read some more Dubliners. Then I sifted through the free stuff, finding some soup and shampoo, paper and charcoal, tacks and tape. I asked Joe about borrowing a mouse because I forgot mine and I hate the trackpad. I bought some color film and a sketchbook. I made sketches of some things inside the castle, and a view from an upper window. I got the phone number and address of the college and emailed it to mom. I also decided to liven up my space a bit, because white walls not only bore me but make me feel uncomfortable. I coarsely drew some charcoal staves and random things just to fill up vast, empty space. I like the large cubicle more now; it is more inviting to do work in. It’s not as lonely. The last of us stragglers caught the last van at 5p and I came home and made the soup I found, which was terribly salty. Then I set up my tent in the backyard and brought my audio recording equipment out to get some sounds of the dismal day in the field behind our house. I tried getting the cows, but the farmer’s hand in the bright yellow jacket said I couldn’t be there. Although, I don’t know if he really said anything but “no”, maybe because he was from Brazil and misunderstood my question of “Can I be here?” He said he couldn’t speak English. That caught me off guard. He was friendly, though, so I was ok with it. I went back near the fence of our yard and got some minutes of windy rainy Irish early evening atmosphere, and hopefully I’ll be able to use it somehow.
I loaded all of my collected samples into my computer and wrote in this here journal for about an hour afterwards. Then I chatted with Jaclyn and read a chapter of Dubliners before heading out to Monks once again. Met up there with Blair and Dan and Ely and Sarah. Had a couple of Bulmers and chatted it up for a good long while until we were the last ones in the place. We had a merry walk home. We hung out in the kitchen for a while making late night snacks and talking off our buzz until Arielle came down and told us to go sleep, which was lame. But we did. I might get up in the morning to record the roosters.
My tentative ideas for a project:
I am planning on doing an audio-photography installation. For the audio, I want to combine samples of Ireland together, overlapping and intermingling. I would also like to do the photography in a sort of double exposure relation. Also, I might take some man-made things I find and use them in performance with the music. I also have an idea of painting greens or blues to look like vegetation and rain (respectively), shoot it with color film, and superimpose it onto some black and white photos. I will have to experiment.
Pictures of walls. Develop and scan. Crop out the walls. Pile on top of other cropped walls. Make it look like “noise”. Put it inside a TV frame.
Tuesday, July 10
Woke up early…6:30. I took a comfortable shower and headed out the door with my Marantz and Audio Technica. I went across the road and through the small patch of trees and recorded the cows in the subsequent field. There were mommys and calves, and I could see the moms being protective of their young. I kept moving further south to try and get away from the sounds of the road. I crept through another patch of brush and ended up in an open meadow with long grass and some rocks that I am slowly realizing to be uniquely Burren. I perched atop a snug rock and recorded some more sounds of birds and far-off roosters and breeze. I also drafted a scene in my sketchbook. When I thought about the time and had a feeling that I may have been out too long, I promptly started back towards the house. I was hoping I wouldn’t enter the driveway to see a full van sitting there waiting for me. I would like to think if this situation actually happened they would just leave without me. But I wasn’t late. I got home in time to organize my stuff and catch the van to the College. We left with Shane to do a hike in the Burren. He was a knowledgeable gent, specifically regarding the Burren and the geology and flora/fauna and the history. It was an extremely interesting hike. We started up the path, stopping every so often to try and take in heaps of information. I tried a berry from the Black Thorn tree, which was extremely bitter. Learned about a lot of orchids, like the Common Spotted, Fragrant, O’Kelly’s and the Frog Orchids. There were many other types of plants mentioned. I tried to remember, but it didn’t work. I started recording Shane’s lectures once we reached a notch where a stone fence met three others at an intersection. We traversed to the south and started climbing on the limestone. I would go into a little more detail regarding the lectures, but I have them recorded, so I can just reference them whenever I want to know more about the hike. We finished the hike around 2:00 and went back to the College and people had lunch. I had Mira’s energy bar because I didn’t want to buy lunch. I hope to keep up that trend. Then we went in the van with our rolls of paper to rub out some charcoal art. We entered the limestone region once again and I found a spot to murder my paper with deep black force. I experimented with water and piss, and different strokes and charcoal thicknesses and different rock surfaces. I ended up with something I was relatively proud of. Hung it up in the College when we went back. Then we went home and organized dinner and walked down to town to buy the goods for group dinner. Attempted to go swimming at the pier, but the tide was out so I decided against breaking my neck. We cooked group dinner and it was delicious. Pasta and salad and garlic bread. It was also a really fun time to have everyone together and entertain. Preparation and cleanup was effortless. Then we sat around drinking wine and deciding when to go back into town to go swimming when the tide is in. I stayed at home and finished my bottle of wine and uploaded the recordings I made of Shane earlier today, and then went down to meet everyone at Monk’s to spend my last 5 Euros. Met Sean and saw Conan again. Arielle was there and she was saying some things that annoyed me. I had a couple Smithwicks and left with Jaclyn before everyone else. She is a fun person. We talked a lot on the way home…it’s too bad I can’t really remember what it was about. When I got home I made a snack of a banana and peanut butter. I stayed up pretty late editing the tracks and just talking. I washed a bunch of dishes from dinner and hung out and cooked my lunch for the next day. There got to be a point where I was up by myself, so I retired to my tent.
Wednesday, July 11
Jaclyn and Katie woke me up at 8:30 and I went inside and ate a banana and brushed my teeth and left early to walk to school. I timed it - it took 17 minutes. That’s a decent walk. When I arrived, no one was there yet, so I rummaged around the scrap heaps. Yesterday I was thinking about checking the scrap metal for things that made cool sounds. So I went over to the huge rusty pile and began striking and dinging random pieces of different metal scraps. This consumed me for the next half hour, and I was late for the lecture. I set a pile aside to gather later, and went to the slide show. Our trip for the day was to Bishop’s Quarters Beach where we were to construct something out of found materials over the course of a few hours. We got to the beach around 10:15 I’m guessing. Geoff and Emily were my partners. On the way in the van we brainstormed a couple of ideas. I mentioned maybe building a 3-D topographical map of something, like Ireland, and using stones for mountains and seaweed for rivers and fields. But none of us knew how Ireland looked exactly so we thought of something else. Geoff suggested doing the landscape of the Burren that was visible from the beach. We thought it was a cool idea, so we found a decent site and began piling up sand, because we wanted to go big. Another aspect of our idea was to make the replica look like an abstract work from a different point of view, so that it wasn’t just a literal piece. We must have piled sand for 3 hours. A stray dog visited us a few times, running through our piles. I ate lunch at 11:30 for some energy. When our three piles started looking like the landscape beyond them, we started to texturize them with seaweed and grass for the green fields in the landscape, and stones for the crumbly Burren steps and rock walls. We finished just in time. The crit was excellent. Dan, Jane and Sarah had a disappearing work when the tide consumed it. Laura, Eli and Rachel had my favorite, which was an organized rock stream that ran down a dune with pieces of blue, green and turquoise rope strewn into it. The rocks were organized from small to big going top down, and the top of the slide was narrower than the base. This created a cool effect that drew the viewer in. Arielle, Emma and Katie did a work that reminded me immediately of an Andy Goldsworthy work (from the slides we viewed earlier). They created different sized circles in the sand and added color around the ring of each to make it interesting. It looked cool, but I thought it was kind of unoriginal. Our was next, and after we critiqued it I took some pictures to document it. The last group was Megan, Jaclyn and Blair. Their project was somewhat unoriginal as well. It was very symmetrical, which bothered me a little, and it looked like a princess castle. They must have put a lot of effort into it, though, because it was big and somewhat intricate, and I respect that.
We were picked up by Robert and taken back to the school. I continued fishing through the scrap heap and taking inside all of the pieces that I thought were interesting. This was at 3pm, and I ended up staying in the studio until 11:30 working on something that was previously unplanned. I made a large mosaic-type sculpture out of the pieces of scrap. Originally I was not intending for it to be a sculpture, but rather a source of bell and other metallic-type sounds to use in my work. But as it got larger and as people started commenting on it as a sculpture, I assumed a new frame of mind and completed something that I am actually very proud of as a work of art as well as a source of sounds. The pieces are tied onto metal poles with string, and the poles are draped over 5 sawhorses. As it stands now, it has 74 pieces of metal available to be struck. I am thinking of incorporating this contraption into a performance piece and inviting volunteers to come up and play it during a certain point in my piece when I exhibit it.
I have been very productive these past few days, and I like the way I feel. Hopefully I can keep it up and complete something very meaningful to myself. I don’t care what anyone else thinks. I have never amazed myself, ever, and it is something that I think about everyday and for some reason have just never put my entire effort into anything, and there is a chance I could break that nasty habit now.
Thursday, July 12
Showered at 8:30 and headed off to school at 9:15. Today was our “mystery” project. We didn’t know what exactly we were going to be doing, but we all had an idea. We knew it involved some sort of man-made object. We viewed some slides from last year and then set off to find materials to use for our own. I decided to use a Nutrigrain bar. In hindsight I should have used something without words, because at the crit people said it looked like an ad, and they were right. But anyway, I thought it was a good idea at the time (I still think it was good). I walked around the College hanging it on trees and tossing it in grass and in bushes. I walked uphill to where the flora stopped and the bare limestone began. I hung it in dead tree, and that I think is my favorite picture I took. When I got tired of doing the project, I sat down for a view of the valley, and it eventually became a nap. I sketched a few pages beforehand. When I woke up around noon, I headed back down to school via a herder’s path. This was a much easier, dryer route than my way up. When I got down, I read a bit, and played on my metal creation, which I have yet to name. The crit was at 1, and everyone’s project was great. The ones I liked the most were Blair’s, who strung rocks over tree branches, Eli had 2 large metal elbow vents and put them in fields facing interesting directions, Jaclyn used an old cash register and did some unique abstracts with the pieces, and Sarah took some amazing pictures with coins. The idea behind mine was that by placing the object in nature, it made nature look like a vending machine, because anytime you see bars or candy or chips you think it is a snack that you buy. I thought it was ironic seeing this vending machine item in nature, because when you’re in nature, the things you snack on don’t cost anything. It makes me ask myself why any of us buy man-made things when natural things are free and most likely healthier.
When the crit was done at around 3, I went to my studio and did some emailing and Geoff and I did a demo in the photo lab with Rich. I also printed a few more of the pictures I took of my project. The other group that has been here before us had their exhibition at 4:30 - 6. There was some interesting stuff…like some abstract video (Jesse and Ang’s wonderfully titled “Not untitled” of Jesse pulling Ang in a net backwards across a wet beach. Chrisso smothered himself in mud. Jesse did another called “Boundary” of him stepping in and out of the wind, a castle wall being the border. Janelle did a cool seaweed project, and another cool cyanotype work. Eva did some mosaics and drawings and a performance piece involving getting naked and having Ang cover her with seaweed goo. Overall, though, I thought it was a week exhibition given the amount of time they had.
Afterwards I stayed in my studio for a couple more hours doing internet and reading. I went home and hung out for a while, packing for my weekend journey and watching whatever the dinosaur documentaries are that Rachel brought. I then left at 11 by myself to meet up with Conan at Monk’s. He was there, with Owen and their friend Tristan, and Aaron came later. It was an interesting night from now on. I had no money, so Troy the bartender spotted me a drink that I could pay for next week. Conan and Owen both bought rounds as well, so I owe them. It was an awesome discussion group between 5 nationalities, being Aussie, Kiwi, American, French and Irish. We talked about drugs, Asia, bungy-jumping…the normal drinking chitchat. There were actually some pretty deep discussions. I am glad they were deep rather than pointless and awkward. When Troy closed up Conan and I went to Logues for another drink, which I bought for him on my card. We met up with the celebrating crew of other artists, being done and all. But they only stayed for a few more minutes…so we finished our beers and headed over to Hylands at 1:15. The bartender there, Robbie maybe?, was friends with Conan, so he served us when he shouldn’t have (timewise, not drunkennesswise), and we talked some more about funny things like movies and other jokes and stories. He gave us 4 Heinekens for the road and we went to the pier and drank them until really late. We talked about everything…traveling, our parents’ divorces, getting in trouble, etc. I like him. Arielle is telling everyone he is a terrible person because he was getting involved with a girl from last year and she started to freak out and had to leave early. I don’t like that when shit goes down, a lot of girls think it is all the man’s fault. Afterall, it was the girl that was engaged, not Conan. But I did only hear his side of it…but it sounded very convincing. We ended up leaving pretty drunk, and I got home at 4:30 and had to wake up at 8:30 to catch the bus to Galway. But I’m glad I went out.
Friday, July 13
My phone alarm didn’t wake me up…it’s a good thing I told Blair to. Left the house at 9 and bought our tickets and a breakfast bread at Spar. Got a one-way to Galway for 8 Euro. Bus took an hour. Off the bus at 10:50 and we went to the ATM, first and foremost. Blair didn’t have any money, so I spotted her 100 Euro. I took out 220 more. I aim for this to last until the end of next weekend at the very least…I think I can do it. Galway is wonderful. Small, noticeably European streets…small stone buildings painted an array of pastel colors, tons of shops and European brands, people holding signs pointing to stores down side-streets, street musicians, very few urchins, very clean. Bought triple A batteries for my headlight, checked ferry times to the Aran Islands for tomorrow, bought a small Shepard’s pie, bought camera batteries, Portrait Of An Artist As A Young Man, an American-to-Euro adapter, and later on a raincoat and a pen and a permanent marker. Got most of the things I needed. Also ate at GBC (Galway Baking Company) because Blair was meeting her “quasi-boyfriend’s” mom who lives in Galway. Megan and I sat separately from her and ate and I read the book promoting the Galway art’s festival next weekend. When I figured out my schedule for next weekend after an hour, I left and made some recordings of Main Street and took some photos. Came back to meet Megan and Blair at 4 to get some drinks. We went to The King’s Head because Conan had recommended it to me. Got a Guiness and a side salad. Megan told some funny stories. We just talked. It’s nice to get to know people who you didn’t before, especially when you are brought together with them seemingly at random. That is one of the things I like about this trip. Megan had to leave at 5:30 (half-five) to catch her bus back to Ballyvaughan at 6. Blair and I were staying the night in Galway. We went out to buy some wine so we could save money. When I put the wine on the counter to pay, I realized I had lost my wallet full of money and credit cards. I was just thinking earlier in the day about how I am stupid enough to do such a thing. So I thought about the last time I remember using it, and I remembered it was when I bought my coat at The Great Outdoors. I hoped it was there. I didn’t notice until now because I keep loose lesser bills and change in my pocket for quick access. I retraced my steps with Blair. She was acting almost more upset than I was, which was nice of her. I am glad when you can see people genuinely caring about others. We went back to The King’s Head, not there. Went to the shop where I bought a snack…not there. Not at the Great Outdoors, and just when I was about to give up, we stopped in the shop where I bought my writing utensils, and there is was. If it wasn’t there I was going to cancel my cards and call it quits. But she had it, and I was so happy! I was in a very good mood. I took the nice woman shopkeep’s advice and went out and celebrated by buying a pint. Well I bought wine, but I celebrated nonetheless. We walked over to the edge of the city on the water where there was a grass park and some boats and swans. We sat up against a wall to keep out of the misty rain and wind. We sat there for at least an hour, aiming to each finish a bottle wine. We talked about a lot of stuff, and I found that we think alike and have a lot of the same interests. It is a good thing because it isn’t often when you meet someone who is so much like you. I also like people who are talkative, because I am not, and that way I get to listen a lot and agree and laugh and zone off and think. Eventually an old man came along and told us we shouldn’t be drinking in public. So we finished our bottles and went back into town to meet up with Dara, Blair’s boyfriend’s brother. We met him at the Black Rose. It was cool being to the original one since I work there in Boston. This place is a lot nicer, too. Multiple floors and a covered outside patio. I bought Blair and I a drink, and Dara bought both of us one when he arrived. He is a quieter chap…or maybe he just seemed that way because we were pretty buzzed an he was sober. Hopefully he took a good impression of Blair. We chatted for a while and when the music started and was loud, we went out to the patio. More talk, blah blah. They left to his house, and I was on my own, so I sat down with 3 Irish girls and chatted with them for a while. I left when I knew I should have, and I am glad about that. I could’ve gone to other bars, but I would’ve spent more money, and I would’ve gotten too drunk to function well the next day. So I bought a pizza for myself (I wish I hadn’t, but oh well. Indulge sometimes.) Then I headed out of town to find a spot to set up my tent. I walked for 20 minutes or so, and came across a house in the ‘burbs that was under construction. It was empty inside and well isolated, and I knew the workers wouldn’t be back the next morning because it would be Saturday, so I popped in and set up my tent on the wood floor inside. I took some night photos of the place and of the starry sky, and tried to get a recording but the batteries died right before I could save it. Oh well. Went to sleep.
Saturday, July 14
Woke up at 7:30 kind of sore from sleeping on pieced of broken up concrete. I was happy with my situation, though. I took some more photos of the house because the lighting was nice. Then I packed up. My bag is so full, it’s kind of uncomfortable. But it is nice because it isn’t bulky. I left and took more photos out on a causeway. I am really excited about one or two. Called Blair to see if she still wanted to go to the islands. She was getting a free ride back to Ballyvaughan, though, and besides she didn’t have the right gear for another overnight. So I strolled into town and bought a one-way to Inish Moor (Inis Mor). Missed the 10:30, so got a ticket for the 1pm, bus at 11:45. I bought some double A batts for my recorder, and got some fruit and water. Chilled on a slab in the park and emailed some folks and listened to music and organized my multiple email accounts and figured out my money situation. On the bus to the ferry and on the ferry to the Aran Islands. Got in at around 2:45 I’m guessing…rented a bike and went to the Sweater Shop. Apparently the Aran Islands are famous for their knit sweaters. I bought a hat for myself and some socks for Emmy. Talked to the girls working there a bit…one was a local and the other was a Polish girl that worked there. They seemed incredibly nice, so I asked where was good to go out at night and they told me Joe Watty’s or Fitz’s, so hopefully I will see them there. I went to Spar and bought some bread and cheese to last me the rest of my time here. Rode out to the long white beach I saw when we were pulling in. Sat down on some rocks in the sun and ate and drank wine and recorded some stuff and wrote in this. I plan on reading a good chunk of Portrait of an Artist as well. It’s relaxing here, and in a way it reminds me of Nantucket. Some planes fly over my head and land about 50 yards behind me. It’s kind of cool, I don’t think I’ve ever been this close to planes landing.
Woke up from my unplanned nap at around 7. Packed up and headed back to my bike and rode to the tip of the island. My goal was to look for the “Puffing Hole” that is on the map, despite not actually knowing what it is or what it looks like. So I started to hike through the stone maze, up and over the hill. What an interesting place to be by yourself. The weather was perfect, a little breeze. It was rather difficult finding my way through the walls…some of them were completely enclosed and I had to climb over. I got a bunch of good pictures, I hope. I walked all the way to the Atlantic side and gazed at the big cliffs and felt the waves crash onto the rocks beneath me. I didn’t see anything that looked like what I pictured a Puffing Hole looking like, so I went back to my bike. When I rode to the road I saw a sign pointing in a different direction. It was in Gaelic so I didn’t know what it actually said, but it looked touristy and it was only 1 km so I followed the trail. It led to the very tip of the island where a big round stone structure was. I think this is what the Puffing Hole was. It confused me further. I am anxious to find out what puffing actually is, or maybe who it is, and what the building’s purpose was. At any rate, I got back to my bike and headed in the direction of Dn Aonghasa to try and catch the sunset. I headed up a road that looked like the right one on the map, but it turned into gravel and ended at the cliffs nowhere near where I was aiming for…so I went back and took the next road. At this point the sun was setting quick, so I decided I wasn’t going to make it out to the cliffs, so I rode up to the lighthouse/castle/fort on top of the island to watch the remainder. It was very beautiful. I was very sweaty too, and I got cold after a while, so I rode down into town again to find Joe Watty’s. I did without any problem, and the music had already started. I ordered a couple of Smithwick’s and got up enough courage to delve into someone else’s social circle. I found the girl from the Sweater Shop. I also met Henry from Vancouver, and Justina and Katja from Poland as well…Justina was the Sweater Shop girl’s sister (I forget Sweater Shop girl’s name!! It began with an O…). We ended up talking about a lot of cool stuff. I always think it is awesome talking to people from other places. Especially somewhat exotic places like Poland. It’s not often you have a chance to talk to people your age from a completely different place. They lived and went to school in Krakow. They said I am more than welcome☺ We decided to meet for breakfast in the morning. I set up my tent off the road on a bushy mat behind a big rock. I don’t think anyone even realized I was there. The sky was overcast, so I couldn’t take any starry Aran photos, which is too bad, but I was also happy to just go to sleep instead. Out like a light. It’s because of the sun.
Sunday, July 15
Woke up at 9 and didn’t want to. But I was to meet the girls for breakfast, so it was worth it to motivate myself to get up. I got all packed and awake, and went to their house where I was to meet them. Unfortunately, when I walked them home, I forgot to take a good look at their house, and when I got back to their general area I forgot which one it was, probably because I was a little drunk when I dropped them off. So I waited outside of the house that I thought was the right one, but I didn’t want to knock like I said I would in fear of it being someone else’s place. The Bed and Breakfast sign in the yard didn’t help at all either. So I gave up after 20 minutes of waiting and I went to the Spar to get some bread and peanuts and an orange. As I was eating it outside, guess who walked up! They thought I had deserted them, but I told them my whole decision-making process and that I was glad they found me, and we went for a walk to drop off my bike and to the beach near the port. I was scared that seeing them the next morning would be awkward because the only time we talked was when we were drinking the night before, but their company was very comfortable and pleasant. I kind of wish I had the opportunity to get to know Katja a little more…. We talked for a good long while until it was time for me to get my ferry to Doolin. 25 Euro one way! Complete and utter tourist rip-off. But, I had to leave, so I coughed it up and got on and enjoyed the ride. I read a good chunk of my book and took a few pics as we stopped in to the other two Aran Islands before reaching Doolin. Got a great view of the Cliffs of Moher on the way in. We had to be brought in to land via smaller boats because the tide was too low to dock completely. I walked into town. Checked the prices of the horse tour of the Cliffs - 25 Euro for an hour. Kind of steep, but worth it. I plan on coming back to do that. The next thing I did was check when the bus to Ballyvaughan was leaving. Of course I missed the early one by 10 minutes. I had to wait now (1) until 7:25 for the next one. So I decided to relax and read and discover Doolin. I walked through town a couple of times - it’s not very large - and checked out the Magnetic Music store. Got some water and a croissant and went out on the patio to read in the sun. Did that for a couple of hours, sketched a little, watched the birds eating my crumbs and resembling dinosaurs, and eventually fell asleep on myself on the table because I was so relaxed and tired. When I woke up I walked up to a little perch that overlooked town and took a recording and a couple photos and read a bit more. Then I decided to try and hitchhike until 7:15, when I decided I would fork over the money for the bus instead. Before I started trying, though, I bought a piece of strawberry rhubarb tart and a ticket for a concert this coming Thursday at the music store. Then I attempted to hitch for the next couple of hours, but no luck. Patience is the key, and I just wasn’t having any biters, so I bought a bus ticket and took it back to Ballyvaughan. I got dropped off at the driveway to the College and started walking home. On my way I decided to finish my roll on my camera, so I entered one of the abandoned houses along the way which had plenty to offer a photographer. I finished my roll and went home and cooked some pasta with sauce and pine nuts. Unpacked a little and wrote in this and uploaded my recordings. Reading will occur in the morning. Time to sleep a wonderful sleep.
Monday, July 16
Got picked up and went to school for our crit on our project ideas. Everyone is rather unsure, which comforts me. I have a lot of material, but no refined idea to which I can put them to use. But things are certainly more solidified than they were when I arrived. I want to do an installation in the castle, that’s for sure, and I want to make it interactive, at least on some level. I am focusing on improvisation because I feel that it embraces a spurt-of-the-moment aspect; a chaotic and unpredictable nature that is not unlike the environment we are visiting that created the Burren. I thought about doing chance music piece…simply providint the materials and allowing chance operations to sort out how they will fall into place, but I don’t know if I want to go that route…I like the idea of coherent organizing. We talked about Portrait of the Artist for a while afterwards, and then I went home to cook some food before we were to go back for out Irish lesson taught by an older woman named Nora. The lesson was great, I thought. It was very old-school style…at least how I picture old-school style being. She was very brash and in your face, making you repeat everything and practicing, and she was always very much in control. It was fun hearing and speaking a language that I honestly had heard very little of before the lesson. The way the language sounds reminds me of Eastern European languages. Very different uses of the mouth to create sounds we don’t have in English. I loved it. I taped it also, and hopefully I will be able to use some of the stuff in my project somehow. Afterwards I developed two rolls of 3200 film and one of 400. Left them to dry and caught the movie showing - Man of Aran, a “documentary” - or Mockumentary - from 1931-33 about life on the Aran Islands. It was interesting. The sound was poor, but apparently it was a big advance at the time. Old movies are funny in that they move less coherently, but they are still very poetic in their camera shots and depictions. Then we watched a documentary on the film afterwards that was made in the 70s. I am glad I watched it because I like to know about more stuff always, but I was honestly moderately bored the entire time. I went home afterwards by way of the fields (which by no means provide easy access to our backyard, but I figured I’d try anyway), and watched some David Attenborough animal documentaries. I then persuaded Blair and Megan to come out to Monk’s with me, where I was to meet up with Jaclyn and Rachel and Dan. Blair generously provided me with 3 shots of Jamison and a spliff, to which I obliged and was thankful for because now I was “pre-gamed” and I would not need to buy much at there bar. Go there and had a Guinness, and I bought Owen and Conan Carlsbergs as well, because I owed them from previous barring. Talked with them and my folk, and eventually found myself playing a chancy drinking card game called diamond, and I proceeded to lose completely and horribly. I ended up drinking half a pint of Bulmer’s and Tristan’s pint of Carlsberg (I owe him). That game was fun, though. I ended up rather buzzed, and I didn’t spend too much, so I was happy. Troy ended up having to kick us out of the bar once again. He is very kind to deal with us. But I know that it is like that anywhere, so I don’t feel too bad. We walked home and I cooked noodles and watched X-files with Dan and Rachel. Good night overall. I passed out on the couch and found my way up to bed early around 6:30.
Tuesday, July 17
Woke up to my phone’s annoying blinky jangle. I laid there asking myself if I really wanted to proceed with the day. I knew that I did. But I felt like I didn’t. So I did. Any it wasn’t that bad once I rubbed my eyes and brushed my teeth. I packed for the day and headed to the studio early to cut my film that was dry. Did that and came back to the house to catch out tour bus at 10am. Gordon and Brian drove us around the Burren on a smaller tour bus (still pretty large) and gave us a history of the region that I have been yearning for since we arrived. Gordon is an effective informer and a good person as well, which made for a satisfying experience. We visited Coracorum (sp?) Abbey, Coole Park (beautiful lush place, thanks to Lady Gregory and those leading figures of the Irish Literary Revival, including William Butler Yeats, Edward Martyn, George Bernard Shaw, John Millington Synge and Sean O’Casey), W. B. Yeats’ castle, the town of Gort (where I bought a ton of groceries at an Aldi for a much smaller amount of money than the Spar in Ballyvaughan could ever offer), and also we visited an large Ecclesiastical site which offered the largest circular tower in Ireland, 100-some feet high, which was on a tilt because of poor architectural and engineering skills 1000 years ago. There was a small graveyard around the base and some other church buildings. It was very interesting, especially because it lay at the base of the Burren. Then we stopped at a site to hike along a road at the base of the Eastern edge of the Burren that was build for no purpose, other than to provide barely enough money for people to survive during the famine in 1845-49. We briefly stopped at a site along the road that offered a view of a remote section of the Burren, and also contained several rock piles that were built for people to worship when they had nothing else, no food or money, which proved intense religious beliefs. We were all very tired at this point. The last stop was the megalithic tomb, which was a slanted rock tomb pointing East to the rising sun holding a dynasty of people from thousands of years ago. This was before Christian times when the people were Pagan, and had nothing else to worship other than the illuminated spheres that traveled across the sky and the natural environment surrounding them. I wish it were still that way. It almost makes more sense to worship the land and existence in which you live, rather than a glorified and multi-interpreted story of false hope.
We were dropped off at the house and I made some pea and potato soup for sustenance and headed up to the College for Gordon’s lecture on the history of the Burren, which I recorded. He showed a slideshow, and I fell asleep because I was exhausted (I wanted to stay awake…), and I attempted to scan my negs, but the scanner wasn’t having it, so I decided to edit my sounds and drink a bottle of wine and hang out/sleep in the studio. I am looking to make some progress over the next day and a half, which has been designated a work period. Hopefully I can mark all of my recorded sounds and maybe even get to combining some and hearing what they sound like layered. I also want to avoid going out to the pubs tonight because I need to save cash. I feel good working right now.
Saturday, July 7
Finished packing clothes last minute because I went to the movies to see Knocked Up, which is hilarious. I ended up forgetting a couple of random things like a swim suit and my USB mouse, but for me that is good, since it didn’t involve any really important things. Though, I guess I will find out just how big of a mishap it was for me to forget a rain jacket…
Met Mira at the Aer Lingus terminal (E). I was last or second-to-last, one or the other. But I thought I was there in ok time. Went through security and met the group at the gate and had a last piece of greasy pizza. The plane ride was typical. Cramped and a little stuffy, nothing out of the ordinary. I read a national geographic article on how colonizers completely changed the new world so that they could adapt and not die, which they had been doing at a significant rate. That kept my attention for the whole ride because I was dozing in and out of consciousness.
Sunday, July 8
Arrived in Shannon at 5:50am. Baggage arrived with me, and that never usually happens, so I was feelin’ good about the trip so far. Actually, everyone’s baggage arrived, which is awesome. Got 100 Euros for myself. Boarded the bus that took us an hour to Ballyvaughan. The drive was entertaining. It was kind of nice that nobody was really talking at this point, because we were finally here and just looking around. We got to our house at around 9:45. It wasn’t what I expected, and that was a good thing. Prior to the trip I thought we were going to get small little apartment flats that held a few people. I didn’t realize we’d all be sharing one big house like a co-ed frat. The house is great. It has plenty of windows and a nice yard, it is a decent walk from school and town, and has a bunch of fun things inside like games and a piano and lots of furniture and a nice kitchen. We unpacked when we decided our rooms. I’m rooming with Dan, which is perfect. I got a strange vibe from him when I first saw him, but when we were introduced and talked a little, I realized he was very friendly and has a funny sense of humor. We have the room at the top of the stairs and straight ahead. When everyone was fairly settled, we all sat downstairs and chatted it up a bit. That was the first time during the trip that I realized that I finally recognized everyone and their name and voice.
We walked into town and were shown all of the good pubs to hit up and we went shopping at Spar, the most expensive shit ever. I bought necessities that will perhaps last me a week to a week and a half, and it was 42 Euro! Can’t wait to get bulk in Galway. Pretty much just can’t wait for Galway period. Walked home in torturous fashion with many weak bags of groceries. But the walk itself is about 15 minutes and under normal conditions is very pleasurable. It wasn’t raining, which it looks like it does often. When I got home I explored a little, and found some cool cow pastures across the road and through a slab of young forest. Inside I found a puzzle of Ireland and Britain that we ended up doing as a group. We are so cool. We got assigned to read a story in a packet, which I had attempted to do, but promptly passed out hardcore. Five hours. When I woke I ate a little food and read the packet of stories (The Art of Collecting Light Bulbs, The Art of Maximizing Your Time, and The Art of Finding Yourself When You’re Lost). I really enjoyed them. I reread them later on. I took a half a roll of pictures when the sun was low and casting a slanting, goldish light. Then my camera died, which is something I don’t know how to deal with because it never has before. I will have to ask someone about it or research it or something. I think it is just the battery, however, which won’t take too much money or effort to fix. At around 11p the last of us (Katie, Jaclyn and Emily) walked in to Monks. Everyone was there, and I got a Smithwicks and a Bushmills and water on ice. I met a couple of locals - Conan, who worked at Monks, and Jarred (a new arrival) and Owen (an Aussie). Later when we went to Logues I met a guy named Damien. They all seemed like good people and I was sincere in my conversations with them. Working at the Black Rose taught me that all Irish people are socially talented, telling good stories and having a good sense of humor, and meeting these gents reconfirmed. Also met a group of kids that has been at the College for 3 weeks - Jesse, Chrisso, Janelle, Angela and Eva are who I remember right now. They are finishing up their stay and their show is this coming Thursday at 4:30, and I am planning on going. I ordered a Guinness in Logues and they closed right after. That was ok with me, I am on a weakly threaded shoestring budget. We walked to the school (briefly stopping at both groups’ houses) and checked out the school and studios (since I missed the chance when several of my housemates went while I was sleeping). We also checked out an abandoned house on the way, and I want to go back there and photograph it. It was Geoff, Katie, Jaclyn, Emily and I with Chrisso and Eva. Chrisso made a tape outline of me on the floor. I ate lots of candy and checked out their work. Then we walked home and I went to sleep. I think it was 2:30 at that point. I had an excellent first day and I am looking forward to working hard and playing hard. I have several ideas for projects. This will be a good trip.
Monday, July 9
8:30 was the time I got up to eat a bite and figure out what I wanted to bring to the studio. I skimmed through our reading again, circling and underlining things that caught my attention the first time, and read a couple chapters of Dubliners. Our ride arrived at 9:30 to take us up to the college. I brought up my paint and computer books and MIDI controller and photography stuff and set myself up in a two-person studio block which I share with Blaire. Then we moved into the lecture hall where the Dean and the Director of the College gave us a brief introduction. We also met Robert and Joe, who also work there and do “high quality janitorial work”, and also the librarian. I decided I am going to really enjoy doing a project here. We have keys to all of the facilities at all hours, which means we have the trust of the staff, which is really awesome. I am in a good mood about this entire ordeal and am confident that I will create a worthwhile project. Afterwards, Rich and Mira lectured us on our readings and gave a slide show. Nobody feels like talking out loud to make the lecture more of a conversation, as usual. Sometimes I get the feeling that Rich is a little too sure of what he has to say. It’s not that he talks a lot, but rather he loves to point out how he feels and emphasizes it as if we should feel that way too. Next time I hear him lecture I will be sure to write down some examples so I don’t sound out of focus. I like how spacey Mira is. Maybe it’s not even that she is spacey but very composed and says only what is necessary, and is honest and respectful enough to not look us in the eyes too much when she is giving an opinion. Instead she looks at the wall behind us or out a window or at the ceiling, as if she was merely talking to someone rather than lecturing. First impressions, though.
After the lecture, I explored the castle. I enjoyed being in there alone, re-imagining how it must’ve been to live in such a place, and who exactly was “privileged” enough to live or work in it. I sat in the bottom section for a while thinking about the acoustics of the small stone room with a dome ceiling. Dan later pointed out how strange it was that a room that wasn’t at the top of the building had a dome ceiling, and I found that interesting as well. As I sat there and clapped and snapped I was inspired to conduct an “Alvin Lucier” experiment, like his composition titled “I Am Sitting In A Room”. I really want to do that before I leave. The higher rooms were interesting as well, especially the top loft, where a wedding was the day before. There is a balcony within the room; it’s very neat.
I came down and got some mushroom soup from the café and read some more Dubliners. Then I sifted through the free stuff, finding some soup and shampoo, paper and charcoal, tacks and tape. I asked Joe about borrowing a mouse because I forgot mine and I hate the trackpad. I bought some color film and a sketchbook. I made sketches of some things inside the castle, and a view from an upper window. I got the phone number and address of the college and emailed it to mom. I also decided to liven up my space a bit, because white walls not only bore me but make me feel uncomfortable. I coarsely drew some charcoal staves and random things just to fill up vast, empty space. I like the large cubicle more now; it is more inviting to do work in. It’s not as lonely. The last of us stragglers caught the last van at 5p and I came home and made the soup I found, which was terribly salty. Then I set up my tent in the backyard and brought my audio recording equipment out to get some sounds of the dismal day in the field behind our house. I tried getting the cows, but the farmer’s hand in the bright yellow jacket said I couldn’t be there. Although, I don’t know if he really said anything but “no”, maybe because he was from Brazil and misunderstood my question of “Can I be here?” He said he couldn’t speak English. That caught me off guard. He was friendly, though, so I was ok with it. I went back near the fence of our yard and got some minutes of windy rainy Irish early evening atmosphere, and hopefully I’ll be able to use it somehow.
I loaded all of my collected samples into my computer and wrote in this here journal for about an hour afterwards. Then I chatted with Jaclyn and read a chapter of Dubliners before heading out to Monks once again. Met up there with Blair and Dan and Ely and Sarah. Had a couple of Bulmers and chatted it up for a good long while until we were the last ones in the place. We had a merry walk home. We hung out in the kitchen for a while making late night snacks and talking off our buzz until Arielle came down and told us to go sleep, which was lame. But we did. I might get up in the morning to record the roosters.
My tentative ideas for a project:
I am planning on doing an audio-photography installation. For the audio, I want to combine samples of Ireland together, overlapping and intermingling. I would also like to do the photography in a sort of double exposure relation. Also, I might take some man-made things I find and use them in performance with the music. I also have an idea of painting greens or blues to look like vegetation and rain (respectively), shoot it with color film, and superimpose it onto some black and white photos. I will have to experiment.
Pictures of walls. Develop and scan. Crop out the walls. Pile on top of other cropped walls. Make it look like “noise”. Put it inside a TV frame.
Tuesday, July 10
Woke up early…6:30. I took a comfortable shower and headed out the door with my Marantz and Audio Technica. I went across the road and through the small patch of trees and recorded the cows in the subsequent field. There were mommys and calves, and I could see the moms being protective of their young. I kept moving further south to try and get away from the sounds of the road. I crept through another patch of brush and ended up in an open meadow with long grass and some rocks that I am slowly realizing to be uniquely Burren. I perched atop a snug rock and recorded some more sounds of birds and far-off roosters and breeze. I also drafted a scene in my sketchbook. When I thought about the time and had a feeling that I may have been out too long, I promptly started back towards the house. I was hoping I wouldn’t enter the driveway to see a full van sitting there waiting for me. I would like to think if this situation actually happened they would just leave without me. But I wasn’t late. I got home in time to organize my stuff and catch the van to the College. We left with Shane to do a hike in the Burren. He was a knowledgeable gent, specifically regarding the Burren and the geology and flora/fauna and the history. It was an extremely interesting hike. We started up the path, stopping every so often to try and take in heaps of information. I tried a berry from the Black Thorn tree, which was extremely bitter. Learned about a lot of orchids, like the Common Spotted, Fragrant, O’Kelly’s and the Frog Orchids. There were many other types of plants mentioned. I tried to remember, but it didn’t work. I started recording Shane’s lectures once we reached a notch where a stone fence met three others at an intersection. We traversed to the south and started climbing on the limestone. I would go into a little more detail regarding the lectures, but I have them recorded, so I can just reference them whenever I want to know more about the hike. We finished the hike around 2:00 and went back to the College and people had lunch. I had Mira’s energy bar because I didn’t want to buy lunch. I hope to keep up that trend. Then we went in the van with our rolls of paper to rub out some charcoal art. We entered the limestone region once again and I found a spot to murder my paper with deep black force. I experimented with water and piss, and different strokes and charcoal thicknesses and different rock surfaces. I ended up with something I was relatively proud of. Hung it up in the College when we went back. Then we went home and organized dinner and walked down to town to buy the goods for group dinner. Attempted to go swimming at the pier, but the tide was out so I decided against breaking my neck. We cooked group dinner and it was delicious. Pasta and salad and garlic bread. It was also a really fun time to have everyone together and entertain. Preparation and cleanup was effortless. Then we sat around drinking wine and deciding when to go back into town to go swimming when the tide is in. I stayed at home and finished my bottle of wine and uploaded the recordings I made of Shane earlier today, and then went down to meet everyone at Monk’s to spend my last 5 Euros. Met Sean and saw Conan again. Arielle was there and she was saying some things that annoyed me. I had a couple Smithwicks and left with Jaclyn before everyone else. She is a fun person. We talked a lot on the way home…it’s too bad I can’t really remember what it was about. When I got home I made a snack of a banana and peanut butter. I stayed up pretty late editing the tracks and just talking. I washed a bunch of dishes from dinner and hung out and cooked my lunch for the next day. There got to be a point where I was up by myself, so I retired to my tent.
Wednesday, July 11
Jaclyn and Katie woke me up at 8:30 and I went inside and ate a banana and brushed my teeth and left early to walk to school. I timed it - it took 17 minutes. That’s a decent walk. When I arrived, no one was there yet, so I rummaged around the scrap heaps. Yesterday I was thinking about checking the scrap metal for things that made cool sounds. So I went over to the huge rusty pile and began striking and dinging random pieces of different metal scraps. This consumed me for the next half hour, and I was late for the lecture. I set a pile aside to gather later, and went to the slide show. Our trip for the day was to Bishop’s Quarters Beach where we were to construct something out of found materials over the course of a few hours. We got to the beach around 10:15 I’m guessing. Geoff and Emily were my partners. On the way in the van we brainstormed a couple of ideas. I mentioned maybe building a 3-D topographical map of something, like Ireland, and using stones for mountains and seaweed for rivers and fields. But none of us knew how Ireland looked exactly so we thought of something else. Geoff suggested doing the landscape of the Burren that was visible from the beach. We thought it was a cool idea, so we found a decent site and began piling up sand, because we wanted to go big. Another aspect of our idea was to make the replica look like an abstract work from a different point of view, so that it wasn’t just a literal piece. We must have piled sand for 3 hours. A stray dog visited us a few times, running through our piles. I ate lunch at 11:30 for some energy. When our three piles started looking like the landscape beyond them, we started to texturize them with seaweed and grass for the green fields in the landscape, and stones for the crumbly Burren steps and rock walls. We finished just in time. The crit was excellent. Dan, Jane and Sarah had a disappearing work when the tide consumed it. Laura, Eli and Rachel had my favorite, which was an organized rock stream that ran down a dune with pieces of blue, green and turquoise rope strewn into it. The rocks were organized from small to big going top down, and the top of the slide was narrower than the base. This created a cool effect that drew the viewer in. Arielle, Emma and Katie did a work that reminded me immediately of an Andy Goldsworthy work (from the slides we viewed earlier). They created different sized circles in the sand and added color around the ring of each to make it interesting. It looked cool, but I thought it was kind of unoriginal. Our was next, and after we critiqued it I took some pictures to document it. The last group was Megan, Jaclyn and Blair. Their project was somewhat unoriginal as well. It was very symmetrical, which bothered me a little, and it looked like a princess castle. They must have put a lot of effort into it, though, because it was big and somewhat intricate, and I respect that.
We were picked up by Robert and taken back to the school. I continued fishing through the scrap heap and taking inside all of the pieces that I thought were interesting. This was at 3pm, and I ended up staying in the studio until 11:30 working on something that was previously unplanned. I made a large mosaic-type sculpture out of the pieces of scrap. Originally I was not intending for it to be a sculpture, but rather a source of bell and other metallic-type sounds to use in my work. But as it got larger and as people started commenting on it as a sculpture, I assumed a new frame of mind and completed something that I am actually very proud of as a work of art as well as a source of sounds. The pieces are tied onto metal poles with string, and the poles are draped over 5 sawhorses. As it stands now, it has 74 pieces of metal available to be struck. I am thinking of incorporating this contraption into a performance piece and inviting volunteers to come up and play it during a certain point in my piece when I exhibit it.
I have been very productive these past few days, and I like the way I feel. Hopefully I can keep it up and complete something very meaningful to myself. I don’t care what anyone else thinks. I have never amazed myself, ever, and it is something that I think about everyday and for some reason have just never put my entire effort into anything, and there is a chance I could break that nasty habit now.
Thursday, July 12
Showered at 8:30 and headed off to school at 9:15. Today was our “mystery” project. We didn’t know what exactly we were going to be doing, but we all had an idea. We knew it involved some sort of man-made object. We viewed some slides from last year and then set off to find materials to use for our own. I decided to use a Nutrigrain bar. In hindsight I should have used something without words, because at the crit people said it looked like an ad, and they were right. But anyway, I thought it was a good idea at the time (I still think it was good). I walked around the College hanging it on trees and tossing it in grass and in bushes. I walked uphill to where the flora stopped and the bare limestone began. I hung it in dead tree, and that I think is my favorite picture I took. When I got tired of doing the project, I sat down for a view of the valley, and it eventually became a nap. I sketched a few pages beforehand. When I woke up around noon, I headed back down to school via a herder’s path. This was a much easier, dryer route than my way up. When I got down, I read a bit, and played on my metal creation, which I have yet to name. The crit was at 1, and everyone’s project was great. The ones I liked the most were Blair’s, who strung rocks over tree branches, Eli had 2 large metal elbow vents and put them in fields facing interesting directions, Jaclyn used an old cash register and did some unique abstracts with the pieces, and Sarah took some amazing pictures with coins. The idea behind mine was that by placing the object in nature, it made nature look like a vending machine, because anytime you see bars or candy or chips you think it is a snack that you buy. I thought it was ironic seeing this vending machine item in nature, because when you’re in nature, the things you snack on don’t cost anything. It makes me ask myself why any of us buy man-made things when natural things are free and most likely healthier.
When the crit was done at around 3, I went to my studio and did some emailing and Geoff and I did a demo in the photo lab with Rich. I also printed a few more of the pictures I took of my project. The other group that has been here before us had their exhibition at 4:30 - 6. There was some interesting stuff…like some abstract video (Jesse and Ang’s wonderfully titled “Not untitled” of Jesse pulling Ang in a net backwards across a wet beach. Chrisso smothered himself in mud. Jesse did another called “Boundary” of him stepping in and out of the wind, a castle wall being the border. Janelle did a cool seaweed project, and another cool cyanotype work. Eva did some mosaics and drawings and a performance piece involving getting naked and having Ang cover her with seaweed goo. Overall, though, I thought it was a week exhibition given the amount of time they had.
Afterwards I stayed in my studio for a couple more hours doing internet and reading. I went home and hung out for a while, packing for my weekend journey and watching whatever the dinosaur documentaries are that Rachel brought. I then left at 11 by myself to meet up with Conan at Monk’s. He was there, with Owen and their friend Tristan, and Aaron came later. It was an interesting night from now on. I had no money, so Troy the bartender spotted me a drink that I could pay for next week. Conan and Owen both bought rounds as well, so I owe them. It was an awesome discussion group between 5 nationalities, being Aussie, Kiwi, American, French and Irish. We talked about drugs, Asia, bungy-jumping…the normal drinking chitchat. There were actually some pretty deep discussions. I am glad they were deep rather than pointless and awkward. When Troy closed up Conan and I went to Logues for another drink, which I bought for him on my card. We met up with the celebrating crew of other artists, being done and all. But they only stayed for a few more minutes…so we finished our beers and headed over to Hylands at 1:15. The bartender there, Robbie maybe?, was friends with Conan, so he served us when he shouldn’t have (timewise, not drunkennesswise), and we talked some more about funny things like movies and other jokes and stories. He gave us 4 Heinekens for the road and we went to the pier and drank them until really late. We talked about everything…traveling, our parents’ divorces, getting in trouble, etc. I like him. Arielle is telling everyone he is a terrible person because he was getting involved with a girl from last year and she started to freak out and had to leave early. I don’t like that when shit goes down, a lot of girls think it is all the man’s fault. Afterall, it was the girl that was engaged, not Conan. But I did only hear his side of it…but it sounded very convincing. We ended up leaving pretty drunk, and I got home at 4:30 and had to wake up at 8:30 to catch the bus to Galway. But I’m glad I went out.
Friday, July 13
My phone alarm didn’t wake me up…it’s a good thing I told Blair to. Left the house at 9 and bought our tickets and a breakfast bread at Spar. Got a one-way to Galway for 8 Euro. Bus took an hour. Off the bus at 10:50 and we went to the ATM, first and foremost. Blair didn’t have any money, so I spotted her 100 Euro. I took out 220 more. I aim for this to last until the end of next weekend at the very least…I think I can do it. Galway is wonderful. Small, noticeably European streets…small stone buildings painted an array of pastel colors, tons of shops and European brands, people holding signs pointing to stores down side-streets, street musicians, very few urchins, very clean. Bought triple A batteries for my headlight, checked ferry times to the Aran Islands for tomorrow, bought a small Shepard’s pie, bought camera batteries, Portrait Of An Artist As A Young Man, an American-to-Euro adapter, and later on a raincoat and a pen and a permanent marker. Got most of the things I needed. Also ate at GBC (Galway Baking Company) because Blair was meeting her “quasi-boyfriend’s” mom who lives in Galway. Megan and I sat separately from her and ate and I read the book promoting the Galway art’s festival next weekend. When I figured out my schedule for next weekend after an hour, I left and made some recordings of Main Street and took some photos. Came back to meet Megan and Blair at 4 to get some drinks. We went to The King’s Head because Conan had recommended it to me. Got a Guiness and a side salad. Megan told some funny stories. We just talked. It’s nice to get to know people who you didn’t before, especially when you are brought together with them seemingly at random. That is one of the things I like about this trip. Megan had to leave at 5:30 (half-five) to catch her bus back to Ballyvaughan at 6. Blair and I were staying the night in Galway. We went out to buy some wine so we could save money. When I put the wine on the counter to pay, I realized I had lost my wallet full of money and credit cards. I was just thinking earlier in the day about how I am stupid enough to do such a thing. So I thought about the last time I remember using it, and I remembered it was when I bought my coat at The Great Outdoors. I hoped it was there. I didn’t notice until now because I keep loose lesser bills and change in my pocket for quick access. I retraced my steps with Blair. She was acting almost more upset than I was, which was nice of her. I am glad when you can see people genuinely caring about others. We went back to The King’s Head, not there. Went to the shop where I bought a snack…not there. Not at the Great Outdoors, and just when I was about to give up, we stopped in the shop where I bought my writing utensils, and there is was. If it wasn’t there I was going to cancel my cards and call it quits. But she had it, and I was so happy! I was in a very good mood. I took the nice woman shopkeep’s advice and went out and celebrated by buying a pint. Well I bought wine, but I celebrated nonetheless. We walked over to the edge of the city on the water where there was a grass park and some boats and swans. We sat up against a wall to keep out of the misty rain and wind. We sat there for at least an hour, aiming to each finish a bottle wine. We talked about a lot of stuff, and I found that we think alike and have a lot of the same interests. It is a good thing because it isn’t often when you meet someone who is so much like you. I also like people who are talkative, because I am not, and that way I get to listen a lot and agree and laugh and zone off and think. Eventually an old man came along and told us we shouldn’t be drinking in public. So we finished our bottles and went back into town to meet up with Dara, Blair’s boyfriend’s brother. We met him at the Black Rose. It was cool being to the original one since I work there in Boston. This place is a lot nicer, too. Multiple floors and a covered outside patio. I bought Blair and I a drink, and Dara bought both of us one when he arrived. He is a quieter chap…or maybe he just seemed that way because we were pretty buzzed an he was sober. Hopefully he took a good impression of Blair. We chatted for a while and when the music started and was loud, we went out to the patio. More talk, blah blah. They left to his house, and I was on my own, so I sat down with 3 Irish girls and chatted with them for a while. I left when I knew I should have, and I am glad about that. I could’ve gone to other bars, but I would’ve spent more money, and I would’ve gotten too drunk to function well the next day. So I bought a pizza for myself (I wish I hadn’t, but oh well. Indulge sometimes.) Then I headed out of town to find a spot to set up my tent. I walked for 20 minutes or so, and came across a house in the ‘burbs that was under construction. It was empty inside and well isolated, and I knew the workers wouldn’t be back the next morning because it would be Saturday, so I popped in and set up my tent on the wood floor inside. I took some night photos of the place and of the starry sky, and tried to get a recording but the batteries died right before I could save it. Oh well. Went to sleep.
Saturday, July 14
Woke up at 7:30 kind of sore from sleeping on pieced of broken up concrete. I was happy with my situation, though. I took some more photos of the house because the lighting was nice. Then I packed up. My bag is so full, it’s kind of uncomfortable. But it is nice because it isn’t bulky. I left and took more photos out on a causeway. I am really excited about one or two. Called Blair to see if she still wanted to go to the islands. She was getting a free ride back to Ballyvaughan, though, and besides she didn’t have the right gear for another overnight. So I strolled into town and bought a one-way to Inish Moor (Inis Mor). Missed the 10:30, so got a ticket for the 1pm, bus at 11:45. I bought some double A batts for my recorder, and got some fruit and water. Chilled on a slab in the park and emailed some folks and listened to music and organized my multiple email accounts and figured out my money situation. On the bus to the ferry and on the ferry to the Aran Islands. Got in at around 2:45 I’m guessing…rented a bike and went to the Sweater Shop. Apparently the Aran Islands are famous for their knit sweaters. I bought a hat for myself and some socks for Emmy. Talked to the girls working there a bit…one was a local and the other was a Polish girl that worked there. They seemed incredibly nice, so I asked where was good to go out at night and they told me Joe Watty’s or Fitz’s, so hopefully I will see them there. I went to Spar and bought some bread and cheese to last me the rest of my time here. Rode out to the long white beach I saw when we were pulling in. Sat down on some rocks in the sun and ate and drank wine and recorded some stuff and wrote in this. I plan on reading a good chunk of Portrait of an Artist as well. It’s relaxing here, and in a way it reminds me of Nantucket. Some planes fly over my head and land about 50 yards behind me. It’s kind of cool, I don’t think I’ve ever been this close to planes landing.
Woke up from my unplanned nap at around 7. Packed up and headed back to my bike and rode to the tip of the island. My goal was to look for the “Puffing Hole” that is on the map, despite not actually knowing what it is or what it looks like. So I started to hike through the stone maze, up and over the hill. What an interesting place to be by yourself. The weather was perfect, a little breeze. It was rather difficult finding my way through the walls…some of them were completely enclosed and I had to climb over. I got a bunch of good pictures, I hope. I walked all the way to the Atlantic side and gazed at the big cliffs and felt the waves crash onto the rocks beneath me. I didn’t see anything that looked like what I pictured a Puffing Hole looking like, so I went back to my bike. When I rode to the road I saw a sign pointing in a different direction. It was in Gaelic so I didn’t know what it actually said, but it looked touristy and it was only 1 km so I followed the trail. It led to the very tip of the island where a big round stone structure was. I think this is what the Puffing Hole was. It confused me further. I am anxious to find out what puffing actually is, or maybe who it is, and what the building’s purpose was. At any rate, I got back to my bike and headed in the direction of Dn Aonghasa to try and catch the sunset. I headed up a road that looked like the right one on the map, but it turned into gravel and ended at the cliffs nowhere near where I was aiming for…so I went back and took the next road. At this point the sun was setting quick, so I decided I wasn’t going to make it out to the cliffs, so I rode up to the lighthouse/castle/fort on top of the island to watch the remainder. It was very beautiful. I was very sweaty too, and I got cold after a while, so I rode down into town again to find Joe Watty’s. I did without any problem, and the music had already started. I ordered a couple of Smithwick’s and got up enough courage to delve into someone else’s social circle. I found the girl from the Sweater Shop. I also met Henry from Vancouver, and Justina and Katja from Poland as well…Justina was the Sweater Shop girl’s sister (I forget Sweater Shop girl’s name!! It began with an O…). We ended up talking about a lot of cool stuff. I always think it is awesome talking to people from other places. Especially somewhat exotic places like Poland. It’s not often you have a chance to talk to people your age from a completely different place. They lived and went to school in Krakow. They said I am more than welcome☺ We decided to meet for breakfast in the morning. I set up my tent off the road on a bushy mat behind a big rock. I don’t think anyone even realized I was there. The sky was overcast, so I couldn’t take any starry Aran photos, which is too bad, but I was also happy to just go to sleep instead. Out like a light. It’s because of the sun.
Sunday, July 15
Woke up at 9 and didn’t want to. But I was to meet the girls for breakfast, so it was worth it to motivate myself to get up. I got all packed and awake, and went to their house where I was to meet them. Unfortunately, when I walked them home, I forgot to take a good look at their house, and when I got back to their general area I forgot which one it was, probably because I was a little drunk when I dropped them off. So I waited outside of the house that I thought was the right one, but I didn’t want to knock like I said I would in fear of it being someone else’s place. The Bed and Breakfast sign in the yard didn’t help at all either. So I gave up after 20 minutes of waiting and I went to the Spar to get some bread and peanuts and an orange. As I was eating it outside, guess who walked up! They thought I had deserted them, but I told them my whole decision-making process and that I was glad they found me, and we went for a walk to drop off my bike and to the beach near the port. I was scared that seeing them the next morning would be awkward because the only time we talked was when we were drinking the night before, but their company was very comfortable and pleasant. I kind of wish I had the opportunity to get to know Katja a little more…. We talked for a good long while until it was time for me to get my ferry to Doolin. 25 Euro one way! Complete and utter tourist rip-off. But, I had to leave, so I coughed it up and got on and enjoyed the ride. I read a good chunk of my book and took a few pics as we stopped in to the other two Aran Islands before reaching Doolin. Got a great view of the Cliffs of Moher on the way in. We had to be brought in to land via smaller boats because the tide was too low to dock completely. I walked into town. Checked the prices of the horse tour of the Cliffs - 25 Euro for an hour. Kind of steep, but worth it. I plan on coming back to do that. The next thing I did was check when the bus to Ballyvaughan was leaving. Of course I missed the early one by 10 minutes. I had to wait now (1) until 7:25 for the next one. So I decided to relax and read and discover Doolin. I walked through town a couple of times - it’s not very large - and checked out the Magnetic Music store. Got some water and a croissant and went out on the patio to read in the sun. Did that for a couple of hours, sketched a little, watched the birds eating my crumbs and resembling dinosaurs, and eventually fell asleep on myself on the table because I was so relaxed and tired. When I woke up I walked up to a little perch that overlooked town and took a recording and a couple photos and read a bit more. Then I decided to try and hitchhike until 7:15, when I decided I would fork over the money for the bus instead. Before I started trying, though, I bought a piece of strawberry rhubarb tart and a ticket for a concert this coming Thursday at the music store. Then I attempted to hitch for the next couple of hours, but no luck. Patience is the key, and I just wasn’t having any biters, so I bought a bus ticket and took it back to Ballyvaughan. I got dropped off at the driveway to the College and started walking home. On my way I decided to finish my roll on my camera, so I entered one of the abandoned houses along the way which had plenty to offer a photographer. I finished my roll and went home and cooked some pasta with sauce and pine nuts. Unpacked a little and wrote in this and uploaded my recordings. Reading will occur in the morning. Time to sleep a wonderful sleep.
Monday, July 16
Got picked up and went to school for our crit on our project ideas. Everyone is rather unsure, which comforts me. I have a lot of material, but no refined idea to which I can put them to use. But things are certainly more solidified than they were when I arrived. I want to do an installation in the castle, that’s for sure, and I want to make it interactive, at least on some level. I am focusing on improvisation because I feel that it embraces a spurt-of-the-moment aspect; a chaotic and unpredictable nature that is not unlike the environment we are visiting that created the Burren. I thought about doing chance music piece…simply providint the materials and allowing chance operations to sort out how they will fall into place, but I don’t know if I want to go that route…I like the idea of coherent organizing. We talked about Portrait of the Artist for a while afterwards, and then I went home to cook some food before we were to go back for out Irish lesson taught by an older woman named Nora. The lesson was great, I thought. It was very old-school style…at least how I picture old-school style being. She was very brash and in your face, making you repeat everything and practicing, and she was always very much in control. It was fun hearing and speaking a language that I honestly had heard very little of before the lesson. The way the language sounds reminds me of Eastern European languages. Very different uses of the mouth to create sounds we don’t have in English. I loved it. I taped it also, and hopefully I will be able to use some of the stuff in my project somehow. Afterwards I developed two rolls of 3200 film and one of 400. Left them to dry and caught the movie showing - Man of Aran, a “documentary” - or Mockumentary - from 1931-33 about life on the Aran Islands. It was interesting. The sound was poor, but apparently it was a big advance at the time. Old movies are funny in that they move less coherently, but they are still very poetic in their camera shots and depictions. Then we watched a documentary on the film afterwards that was made in the 70s. I am glad I watched it because I like to know about more stuff always, but I was honestly moderately bored the entire time. I went home afterwards by way of the fields (which by no means provide easy access to our backyard, but I figured I’d try anyway), and watched some David Attenborough animal documentaries. I then persuaded Blair and Megan to come out to Monk’s with me, where I was to meet up with Jaclyn and Rachel and Dan. Blair generously provided me with 3 shots of Jamison and a spliff, to which I obliged and was thankful for because now I was “pre-gamed” and I would not need to buy much at there bar. Go there and had a Guinness, and I bought Owen and Conan Carlsbergs as well, because I owed them from previous barring. Talked with them and my folk, and eventually found myself playing a chancy drinking card game called diamond, and I proceeded to lose completely and horribly. I ended up drinking half a pint of Bulmer’s and Tristan’s pint of Carlsberg (I owe him). That game was fun, though. I ended up rather buzzed, and I didn’t spend too much, so I was happy. Troy ended up having to kick us out of the bar once again. He is very kind to deal with us. But I know that it is like that anywhere, so I don’t feel too bad. We walked home and I cooked noodles and watched X-files with Dan and Rachel. Good night overall. I passed out on the couch and found my way up to bed early around 6:30.
Tuesday, July 17
Woke up to my phone’s annoying blinky jangle. I laid there asking myself if I really wanted to proceed with the day. I knew that I did. But I felt like I didn’t. So I did. Any it wasn’t that bad once I rubbed my eyes and brushed my teeth. I packed for the day and headed to the studio early to cut my film that was dry. Did that and came back to the house to catch out tour bus at 10am. Gordon and Brian drove us around the Burren on a smaller tour bus (still pretty large) and gave us a history of the region that I have been yearning for since we arrived. Gordon is an effective informer and a good person as well, which made for a satisfying experience. We visited Coracorum (sp?) Abbey, Coole Park (beautiful lush place, thanks to Lady Gregory and those leading figures of the Irish Literary Revival, including William Butler Yeats, Edward Martyn, George Bernard Shaw, John Millington Synge and Sean O’Casey), W. B. Yeats’ castle, the town of Gort (where I bought a ton of groceries at an Aldi for a much smaller amount of money than the Spar in Ballyvaughan could ever offer), and also we visited an large Ecclesiastical site which offered the largest circular tower in Ireland, 100-some feet high, which was on a tilt because of poor architectural and engineering skills 1000 years ago. There was a small graveyard around the base and some other church buildings. It was very interesting, especially because it lay at the base of the Burren. Then we stopped at a site to hike along a road at the base of the Eastern edge of the Burren that was build for no purpose, other than to provide barely enough money for people to survive during the famine in 1845-49. We briefly stopped at a site along the road that offered a view of a remote section of the Burren, and also contained several rock piles that were built for people to worship when they had nothing else, no food or money, which proved intense religious beliefs. We were all very tired at this point. The last stop was the megalithic tomb, which was a slanted rock tomb pointing East to the rising sun holding a dynasty of people from thousands of years ago. This was before Christian times when the people were Pagan, and had nothing else to worship other than the illuminated spheres that traveled across the sky and the natural environment surrounding them. I wish it were still that way. It almost makes more sense to worship the land and existence in which you live, rather than a glorified and multi-interpreted story of false hope.
We were dropped off at the house and I made some pea and potato soup for sustenance and headed up to the College for Gordon’s lecture on the history of the Burren, which I recorded. He showed a slideshow, and I fell asleep because I was exhausted (I wanted to stay awake…), and I attempted to scan my negs, but the scanner wasn’t having it, so I decided to edit my sounds and drink a bottle of wine and hang out/sleep in the studio. I am looking to make some progress over the next day and a half, which has been designated a work period. Hopefully I can mark all of my recorded sounds and maybe even get to combining some and hearing what they sound like layered. I also want to avoid going out to the pubs tonight because I need to save cash. I feel good working right now.