Two days after the Lay of the Land Belfast: Julie Fiala and I performed with Bbeyond outside Ulster university. The group have been performing with each other in public spaces, usually on a monthly basis and mostly in Belfast, since 2008.

What with all the politics, the riots and loaming parade season, we decided to be a bit more politically overt. Usually when I perform with other artists in such an informal context, I do so in a more improvised manner and with less of a clear intention. This time there was less room for surprises, synchronicity and the opening out of our initial idea because on this occasion we felt strongly about seeing an action through.Our eventual aim was to cut out the inside of each piece of british and irish coloured bunting. We then left it there as an installation. Being creative in public spaces is at the base of all my work and being surrounded by other artists doing the same was liberating and much appreciated.The other artists in close up are Colm Clarke and Rainer Pagel Photography by Jordan Hutchings

Alex Steffen uses the written word to far greater affect than I and the following piece is taken from a text that has inspired me for years.

“Optimism is a political act

Entrenched interests use despair, confusion and apathy to prevent change. They encourage modes of thinking which lead us to believe that problems are insolvable, that nothing we do can matter, that the issue is too complex to present even the opportunity for change. It is a long-standing political art to sow the seeds of mistrust between those you would rule over: as Machiavelli said, tyrants do not care if they are hated, so long as those under them do not love one another. Cynicism is often seen as a rebellious attitude in Western popular culture, but, in reality, cynicism in average people is the attitude exactly most likely to conform to the desires of the powerful – cynicism is obedience.”

The pictures were taken by James Moloney

This combination of political, military and economic strategy to gain and maintain power by breaking up larger concentrations of power into smaller chunks  is still evident today. The existing hegemony is constantly separating people into different groups, usually class related and economically motivated. I find myself coming to conclusions on who I am based on who I am not. Essentially this is about me separating myself from others as opposed seeking out commonalities. Unfortunately it is often through the discovery of similarities with others that I find a deep contentment. I reside myself to the fact that my nature seems at odds with the dominant thinking of my time and the subsequent sociological structure. I’m all for divisions that enrich our lives, culturally for example but for the most part I find the divisions I encounter everyday are pointless and harmful to my mental health.

We went to the centre of O’Connell bridge. It lies over the Liffey, the river dividing the North of the city from the South. The divide in Dublin was the most evident thing I noticed when I first came here 10 years ago. Growing up in the west of Ireland in rural areas during the 80’s and 90’s I hadn’t experienced such a gap between rich and poor until I went to Dublin. Most people where I grew up were working class and in economic terms seen as poor, funnily enough I didn’t notice because it was seen as normal. In Dublin the class system was evident in the accents, the regions and the life opportunities for the occupants of these regions. For example my boyfriend at the time came from an affluent area and could secure work based on his address alone.

We drew a line across the O Connell bridge to highlight the divide between the two sides of the city. The following are photos taken by Michael Stephens. Maciej (Magic) Martyniuk filmed the event and Julie Fiala editing the footage. She speaks about the piece on her blog http://juliefiala.tumblr.com/

At least in times of overt oppression we can at least come together because we are together in our agreement. I think that when I am isolated they have won.
“Cynicism is obedience, Optimism is a political act.. Cynicism is often seen as a rebellious attitude in Western popular culture, but, in reality, cynicism in average people is the attitude exactly most likely to conform to the desires of the powerful – cynicism is obedience.
Optimism, by contrast, especially optimism which is neither foolish nor silent, can be revolutionary. Where no one believes in a better future, despair is a logical choice, and people in despair almost never change anything” Alex Steffen.
The best weapon I have against this unnesscessary type of depression, is the knowledge that somebody is trying to enslave me, it’s not rational, it’s not me, it’s external, it’s a deliberate stratedgy to win me over, and I’m not gonna let it beat me down.

In this western age of anxiety I don’t think that these thoughts and this type of relationship with myself is unusual and yet for me, the essence of depression is the feeling that you are alone. I feel that by publicly exposing the issue, I went against the oppressive stigma that keeps depression hidden and isolated.

It has been a while sense I devised and practiced for a performance. Basically since I realised that theatre and gallery spaces are too far removed from the communal and non hierarchical lives I want to live. Performing in these spaces, these black and white boxes, separated from the world by walls, where you have full control over the surrounding environment, is an easier endevour than the alternative; Public Spaces inhabited by the multidimensional natures of the general public.
After grabbling with making work in public spaces for the last few years I found myself creating heavily visual and conceptual work as this works well in public spaces. Therefore much of the work went into the preparation and the execution was the easy part. This time the piece was scripted in magpie style and although a lot of work went into the preparation I had to put a lot of energy into the execution of it.
Below are two short excerpts from the piece, it lasted about 20 minutes. I have had to depend on the kindness of others in terms of documenting a lot of my work, thanks. Thanks to James Moloney for the editing.

photography by James Moloney

I performed outside the central bank in Dublin to raise awareness about the current monetary system, its flaws and the solutions to the challenges it poses. I wanted to see how I could inform people about these issues in an innovative and interesting manner.

Without preaching to the converted or patronising those affected by the economic crisis I just wanted to encourage dialogue on the matter whilst experimenting with the aesthetics of protest. This experience at best could be transformative and the sentence I wrote highlighted the importance of empowering the individual through knowledge and understanding. I repeatedly wrote in one cent coins “to understand is to transform what is”

I had left a large number of money plants in gloden pots alongside golden envelopes near the sculpture of the Crann on Oir or Tree of Gold with a note that invited people to take them. After months of studying contemporary economics I managed as best I could to summise the workings of the system. I also researched the alternative options to this neo liberalist structure posed by economists with more sustainable stratedgies. I placed this information in the envelopes. I placed these gifts beside the statue of the tree with its golden leaves as I felt the work was the artist’s comment on the fact that banks conjure money up out of thin air, as if money grows on trees.

The other main aim of the final show was to be site and time specific. The space is commercial, designed with the sole purpose to have us buying and consuming beyond our needs through the use of advertising that leaves us feeling inadequate.

For more info on public space and its design purposes please go to http://www.spacehijackers.co.uk/html/manifesto.html

The “You are beautiful” statement was about reversing what is normally communicated in these commercial areas. I was inspired to use these words when I heard about a movement of great optimism. Below is a statement from the originators of the project.

“You Are Beautiful is a simple, powerful statement which is incorporated into the over absorption of mass media and lifestyles that are wrapped in consumer culture.

The intention behind this project is to reach beyond ourselves as individuals to make a difference by creating moments of positive self realization. We’re just attempting to make the world a little better.

Intention is the most important aspect of the You Are Beautiful project in its idea of purity. Nothing is sacred. Everything that has a perceived value becomes commodified. We work extremely hard that this message is received as a simple act of kindness, and nothing more.

Advertising elicits a response to buy, where this project elicits a response to do something. The attempt with You Are Beautiful is to create activism instead of consumerism.

You Are Beautiful uses the medium of advertising and commercialization to spread a positive message.
Projects like these make a difference in the world by catching us in the midst of daily life and creating moments of positive self realization.”

http://www.you-are-beautiful.com

Powerful performance worth shouting about
MARY BRENNAN The Herald(Scotland)
March 17 2009
I now have a little alarm clock on my desk. The words “The Present Moment” encircle the dial, a reminder to be watchful – alive to what’s happening now – even as the hands tick off the passing seconds and minutes. It’s also a reminder of Cusp, Eve Vaughan’s quiet, gentle and movingly poetic contribution to Into the New 09, a programme of work at the Arches, Glasgow, by students graduating from the Contemporary Theatre Practice (CTP) course at Glasgow’s RSAMD.
Cusp found us following Vaughan as she risked engagement with the rorty, pleasure-bent Friday-night crowds around Central Station.
She asked them to take, and care for, a pot of daffodil bulbs. Stood, mirror round her neck and a sign – You Are Beautiful – in her hand, for passers-by to primp and reflect.
She led us to a grimy cul-de-sac, the kind you’d avoid in daylight, where she’d installed a kind of votive shrine complete with wax candles in the shape of hands and feet, and emblazoned a wall with her gleaming mantra, You Are Beautiful.
She gave us our gift – the clock – and left us to find our own way back to the Arches. On so many levels, this is a remarkable piece that nudges us into seeing people (the homeless among them) and places we tend to ignore as “off-limits” or even dangerous.

Other outdoor interventions

Outdoor installations.

photography by James Moloney

This is when I first played around with the You Are Beautiful statement. It also signifies the beginning of my interest in using commuters at traffic lights as an audience. At first I asked random people to hold one end of the sign whilst i held the other but on this particular day it is myself and Cian with Kev recording. The quality isn’t great and the sound needs to be turned down as there is alot of static but you get the idea.

In September of 2008 I collaborated with Cian McConn, Kevin Flanagan and Stephanie Hough in the Chashama project space in Manhattan New York. It involved live art events, site sympathetic performance, video and indoor installations.
Eve Vaughan (with Cian McConn)
Grainne Gra, September 2008, Manhattan, New York City (USA).
Grainne Gra (gra is Gaelic for love) was a character I came up with whilst collaborating with
a group of artists in New York. I visited the fast food restaurant White Castle, and the people
working there, even though lowly paid, were still friendly and open-minded. There was no music
playing there so I started visiting the place every night with my own interpretations of pop songs to
entertain the staff and to highlight the ridiculousness of main stream pop to your regular Joe. one of the songs I used was by New Yorker Jennifer Lopez called Jenny from the block
“Don’t be fooled by the rocks that I’ve
got, I’m still Jelly from the block. You know you’ve got a little and I’ve got a lot, but I know where I
came from……. Stay REALLL, to me it’s like breathing oh oh oh oohh.”
To play on the theme of vacuous art I was inspired by a performance by my fellow collaborator; Kev Flanagan, and sang a song called “I am wasting your time” an ode to every bullshit pop artist who has ever wrecked my head.
After developing a repertoire of songs, the artist Cian McConn and I created a 30-minute performance for an invited audience in the fast food restaurant .
19

-Grainne Gra and Seanin Ban in White Castle.

We also decided to make a music video using this Lopez’s song and chose the Irish Hunger memorial garden in Manhattan to do so. This was the first point of arrival for thousands upon thousands of Irish during the famine.The site is literally land and stone taken from Ireland, shipped over to the business district in Manhattan and put back together exactly as it was in Ireland. It is a monument to those who perished during the Irish famine. Undernourished no doubt, from a lack of “rocks” and the ability to “stay real!” Starved of food and sexual liberation but not for want of a meaningful culture.

-Grainne Gra and Seanin Ban at the Hunger Memorial

Jelly from the bog.

For more info on this project please go to. http://turftechnics.tumblr.com

In October 2007 I worked alongside 12 other students and Glas(s) performance
“Glas(s) Performance is committed to a socially engaged theatre performance practice that collaborates with real people in the place of fictional characters to tell stories that resonate with audiences of all ages and experience. They aim to deliver this type of work to Scotland and create a national platform for Scottish communities and individuals to tell their stories and share their histories in a professional and valued context.
Of their work Glas(s) Performance prioritise a professional aesthetic and artistic process that challenges pre-conceived notions of the place of communities or ‘non professionals’ within the wider dialogue of performance.
We also worked with members of the Govan Reminiscence group to make a show called “Are Ye Askin?”
This was a creative project designed to look at Govan, an area of Glasgow previously famous for ship building with a rich heritage and history. We went to regular meetings of the Reminiscence Group, a group of older residents that meet each week with the goal of actively remembering the area as it was as well as participating in the politics of its present.
With their stories, memories and artifacts we made a site specific piece of theatre in the Pearce Institute in Govan and invited an audience to join us in an evening of stories, song and dancing.
As part of process I engaged with the people I met on the street and would interview them on their thoughts about Govan. It’s an incredibly run down area where alcohol and drug addiction are widespread. As well as this, feuding gangs whose issues in some cases with each other arose generations ago create at times a hostile atmosphere.
I wanted to ask people how they would like to see the place improved. It was Christmas time and I decided to make some Christmas crackers filled with goodies and positive quotes and go to the local shopping mall to see who would like to pull them. After a person had done this I asked them their opinion on what could be done to improve Govan. For the actual show I made lots more crackers and inside I placed the wishes of the people I had spoken to. At this point in the show I presented many images of me with the people I met and asked the audience to pull their crackers altogether at the same time.