Noelle Noonan and Catherine Hehir (Hehir & Noonan) 2023
DATES
3 July to 31 July 2023
TIMES
SHARE
Noelle Noonan & Catherine Hehir (Hehir & Noonan)
Right of Soil
3 July to 31 July 2023
Catherine Hehir and Noelle Noonan are Irish Artists who work both independently and collaboratively. This collaborative undertaking at Uillinn offers us space to expand and develop our current project.
The Right of Soil will interrogate soil through the lens of the political, the cultural and the scientific with a view to testing, researching, and creating new artworks. Hehir & Noonan will look beyond the commodification and monetary value of soil seeing earth as a natural body that encapsulates the social and biological evolution of man. We will explore ideas from the micro to the macro. This research will address questions of territory and the resilience of the earth in its most direct form – as soil, to the changes that are imposed upon it over time. The research will collect and examine a diverse series of soil samples and discuss the relationships between their scientific content and cultural significance. Investigating the structure of the soil, taking samples and testing them scientifically to understand the intricacies of the pedosphere. Samples will be collected from a ‘contested site’ or boundary/border, a defunct border crossing, historical regional boundaries, superimposed boundaries or a geographical anomaly for example. The research will explore the principles of Jus Solis and Jus Sanguinis and the practice of migrants or itinerants carrying with them samples of home (soil).
The residency enables us to have immersion in the landscape and access to the archipelago in the surrounding waters of West Cork. Our research methods will focus on gathering content through sound and video recordings, drone footage, pin hole photography, frottage, drawing, soil sampling and casting at these sites. We also will develop and record ephemeral interventions at the sites. The studio access will allow us to pilot and test potential outcomes in response to the evolving field trip/interactions/discussions – experimenting with a range of media and innovative and expanded print processes. We see this initial collaboration has the potential to be developed into a large scale project.
The project will invite participation from the local community including landowner, islanders and farmer etc. Visitors to the studio will similarly be invited to participate and contribute by way of a questionnaire in order to explore the nature of borders in the 21st century – and how these might be considered in the future.
Noelle Noonan and Catherine Hehir are Irish artists who work both independently and collaboratively using a number of different mediums but primarily print and print installation. Our interest lies in our cultural history and current events that shape the Irish landscape from the geographical to the political. The cultural archive is a critical element of our research; these various repositories of information are often the starting point for strong debate. Arising from our subjective perceptions and encompassing ideas relating to the physical, the metaphysical, the political and the mundane the work coalesces into a unified response. Our work embraces many different forms, including temporary interventions, permanently sited sculptural installations, and curatorial programmes.
@thestateofprint
@crawfordprintmedia
@lsadlimerick
WCAC acknowledges the financial support of the Arts Council and Cork County Council in making these residencies possible.