The Butler Gallery in Kilkenny has come up with a novel idea: instead of people coming to the gallery, why not send the art out to them. Aidan Duune, Art Critic, gauges the reaction of the people who took part in Stations, an exhibition with a difference
Stations, at the Butler Gallery in Kilkenny Castle, is an exhibition with a difference. Rather than following the usual model of people coming into a gallery to see works of art, the Butler sent art out into the community. Five Kilkenny households were invited to participate in the project. Over the five-month period, five works of art from the Butler Gallery's permanent collection circulated through the five households, staying in each one for a month at a time.
The works were documented in situ and responses of the residents in each house to each work were recorded and form the basis of the exhibition and an accompanying publication. People are often wary about contemporary art, unsure of how they should respond to it, unsure if they are its intended audience at all.
Stations is a bid to break down some of the barriers that exist between the artworld and the world beyond the confines of the gallery walls. Here, in a selection of extracts from interviews with the participants, are their experiences of individual pieces of work.
Maura and Nick Huntley on Branch Cube by David Nash
Maura is involved with the Kilkenny Friendship Club where she organises outings, talks and social day trips. She is married to Nick, a taxi driver and they have raised five children. Some of their grandchildren were living with them during the project. Maura enjoys singing in the church choir and one of her hobbies is collecting plates. Maura and Nick volunteered themselves in Stations in order to broaden their conception of modern art.
Nick: I liked the shape of it and the fact that it's very smooth on the outside. It's unnaturally square whereas the branches that are coming through are not straight lines. They're all different shapes on the inside. I think to have it in the room you can probably examine it more closely and see it better than if it was anywhere else. You have more time to study it. I think the artist is speaking about the materials he uses because he has opposite ends of the scale. I don't think it's actually meant to be anything. It's just an expression of what's within the artist. To me, it shows opposites. You have straight lines and twisting branches and you have a cube shape which doesn't go naturally with wood because a cube is not a natural shape whereas wood is a natural thing.
Maura: Personally I wouldn't go back to look at it whereas here now I would. It's so long here now. The first thing I put on is the light at night to set it off. It became part of us. I didn't know what to say in the [Kilkenny Friendship] club. I was trying to explain it to them but I couldn't. They'd really want to see it themselves. That's what I said to them.
Ahmed Mohammed and Tamie Namba on Little Flame in a Boat by Alistair Wilson
Ahmed, an accountant originally from Somalia, was living in Kilkenny at the time with his flatmate, Nassir, a tailor who also took part. Ahmed and Nassir moved away from Kilkenny during the project
Ahmed Mohammed: "People did not know what the piece was about - a lot thought it was like a half moon rather than a boat. At the beginning I was in the same situation as them. I looked at the arc and it didn't actually look like a boat. For me it seemed like a half moon and the size of the boat was small and the tide looked large and bigger. But, thinking over the weeks, actually the boat is a tiny thing in the sea and I am used to it now. When the work is in the home it is like part of your household. It is much closer to you, it's something that stays with you for a period of time. It's not like going to a gallery and seeing it for a few minutes and going away from it, you come to live with it. I think it's a different feeling altogether. One of my friends who came, they looked at it and they thought it was a moon, and they were asking if it had any religious significance because I'm a Muslim and the Muslim's sign is the half moon sign, where in Christianity you have the cross. So he was wondering if this had anything to do with my religion. Personally, I would like to make my own conclusions and think what is the art about."
John Joyce on Branch Cube by David Nash
John has always lived in Co Kilkenny and works as a part-time dispatcher with a bus transport company. His interests include computers, swimming and going to the cinema. John is also the treasurer of the Kilkenny Access Group, who promote greater access for people with disabilities.
John Joyce: "Well one of the first things I said was I had no open fire! I have to say it was interesting but after that I can't say much more because it wouldn't be my cup of tea. I didn't fancy it much. I didn't grow to love it over the month. I mean the wood is natural so I think he was trying to stick to nature when he was doing it. It's just something he liked, I'd say. Everyone can't like every piece. Well I suppose it's well made like, but that's as far as it goes I think, to me anyway. Probably as the month went on I got more used to it, but saying that it wouldn't be something I'd go out and buy to put into the house. But as regards a house, I'd know what I'd like in a house and other people mightn't like it. Before this started, I knew nothing about art but at least I've seen something now, you know, at least I can distinguish if I like something or if I don't like it. As I say, I never knew anything about art, I never went into a gallery - a lot of them aren't that accessible (for disabled people). It's a thing I never really looked into or probably was never interested in up to now. But I wouldn't mind going to a gallery now after seeing the ones here."
Julie Leahy on Serpent by Diana Hobson and St Sebastian by Clifford Rainey
Julie lives with her two daughters, Michaela (2) and Sianna (1), and her partner, Michael O'Keeffe. She works as a waitress and is involved with Newpark Close Family Resource Centre. She has a huge passion for photography and has a very large personal collection of family photographs. She was originally attracted to the Stations project in anticipation of the reactions that would come from her friends and family when they visited her home.
Julie Leahy: "I've had the Serpent here for four weeks now in the kitchen and I have to say it's a beautiful piece. The feedback was excellent, everybody liked it. It didn't stand out like a sore thumb in the house. It's so neat, it's tidy, it blends in very well. I love it, I absolutely love it, it really does fit in. And where it was positioned as well is ideal because it's not a huge wall, so you're just looking at the piece - there is not really anything there to disturb you.
Comparing Clifford Rainey and the Serpent, I think the Clifford Rainey piece was more of a puzzle. There was a lot left up to the imagination to try and figure out what exactly the piece was. I suppose the material that was used to make the piece is natural; you're getting back to nature again. It's just in a natural state - it's not like a polished bronze, it's just deadly. I don't have any idea what the connection is - why bronze and a serpent are put together. But in saying that, the bronze and the glass serpent look good together. Well, it just goes to show how easy it is to fit in when there are all these other items around. Like, you take the calendar, the pictures, these are things that you would find in a house, it just shows how easy it is to blend in."
Ger Strong on St Sebastian by Clifford Rainey
Ger Stronge a 10-year-old student, has been with Kilkenny Youthreach for a year and a half and is sitting his leaving certificate this year. He lives at home with his parents, younger brother and two sisters. Ger spends 20 hours a week working with a vegetable farmer and his interests include motorbikes, cars, going to the cinema and woodwork. After his exams, he would like to serve his time as an apprentice carpenter and his long-term plans are to have his own carpentry business.
Ger Strong: "A fish tank, something to keep a snake in or a big spider. It's not the sort of thing you like to look at. It's dead, dull, nothing to it, lifeless. I think he must have been a holy person or something. I don't know where he got the idea from, using what he used - the bottle and the whole glass box thing. The bottle was hard to work with; a piece of steel or wood would have been handier for himself - maybe it's because it's something people are used to looking at, something people do see day in day out - it might catch your eye. Maybe it was to give it the dull effect, maybe he didn't want it to catch people's eye, being such a holy thing. Maybe it meant something more to him if it was darker, more shaded."
Stations is at the Butler Gallery, The Castle, Kilkenny, until June 22nd. The Gallery is open seven days a week and admission is free. Telephone: 056-61106. www.butlergallery.com