Homo Ludens (Man at Play)
12 - 27 January 2018. Curated by Róisín Bohan. Exhibiting artists: Cará Donaghey, Isabel English, Margot Galvin, Daire O’Shea, Irene Whyte.
Homo Ludens, the title of this exhibition, is the species of people who inhabited New Babylon, a future utopian city envisaged by Dutch artist Constant between 1956 and 1974. The term Homo Ludens was originally coined by Dutch cultural historian J. Huizinga in 1938, meaning a species of people whose fundamental activity is considered ‘play’. In New Babylon, Homo Ludens were free to lead creative and imaginative lives, released from labour by the development of automated systems. Here, the inhabitants were in control of their environment, able to change it to suit their needs, moods, and behaviour through the use of “moveable architectural components such as walls, floors, staircases… [and] colour, light [and] texture..”.
In this exhibition, five artists are brought together whom each play with architectural elements such as the inhabitants of New Babylon. Traditional architectural blueprints are the starting point behind the development of Irene Whyte’s carbon paper prints. In contrast to this traditional method, these prints are without detail, isolated shapes and curvatures cast by fading sunlight in the Black Church Print Studio building. Daire O’Shea and Isabel English’s sculptural installations hint to infrastructural materials, through Daire’s steel frames and reflective surfaces, and Isabel’s sculptural objects which resemble wooden pallets and the walls of the gallery space.
Constant imagined New Babylon as a labyrinth in which the inhabitants could continually find new paths, living in a constant state of exploration. For this exhibition, Cará Donaghey presents two printed works on paper, placed separately within the exhibition, both produced from one copper plate. A pathway must be created to view the two works and the completed piece by navigating through the space and the work of the other artists. This method of exploration is also the initial step in Margot Galvin's printmaking process. Examining Dublin city’s infrastructure, Galvin translates significant buildings and locations into abstract shapes, forms and colours.
Photography credit: Kate Bowe O’Brien
My print Mute is seen on the top left.
Tree, beside a fragment of Isabel English’s sculpture.