4/704 (We Are Islanders)

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What does it mean to live on a tidal Island in the face of rising sea levels?

Rosie O’Reilly creative director of Re-dress, The Better Fashion Initiative, and fashion label We Are Islanders, will continue to question the social and environmental story of our time with upcoming 4/704, a live visual-audio installation as part of Dublin Fringe Festival.

Irish sea levels will rise by ½ meter by the end of the century, flooding and coastal storm surges will become the norm and Dublin will face this struggle (NUI Galway’s Ryan Institute). New Yorks visit from Sandy has left the mark of rising sea levels around its bay and now an unseen tide mark exists on their economic, political and human systems as they struggle to adapt.

There are on average 704 high tides a year, 4/704 explores our vulnerability in the face of rising sea levels changing the lenses through which we look outward.

We Are Islanders in collaboration with Design Goat will design and position four self-contained dying units on Sandymount strand, engineered through a buoyancy system to record 4 of the 704 annual high tides, and transfer the mark of their rise and fall onto garments over 48 hours (20 – 22 Sept), creating a ‘textural time lapse’.

The facing wall of the baths on Sandymount strand will act as a gallery space for photographic images to be pasted up, and light installation inspired by rising sea levels to be projected. The experience is fully sensorial; a visual and audio voyage.

The socio-cultural zone of fashion and apparel is rarely used as a platform in the visual arts for exploring social, cultural and environmental issues despite its crucial part in daily lives. We are Islanders is a creative fashion and art project that aims to challenge accepted norms and use the medium of clothing to ask questions.

We Are Islanders is a design label based in Dublin, Ireland. Produced locally using only sustainable materials, this fashion label refuses to compromise on style and quality while remaining dedicated to better practice.

This project cites an eclectic mix fusion of influences, from Kirill Medvedev, Jay Defeo and Pina Braush, to Wes Anderson, Vivienne Westwood, and The Atlantean Irish. The creative team at the helm reflect this diverse synergy, with; Designers (Design Goat), Artist (Ruth le Gear), and Photographers (Des Moriarty, Sean & Yvette), joining We Are Islanders (Rosie O’Reilly, Kate Nolan & Deirdre Hynds) to help realise the project.

We are asking for funding to help us cover the following: Materials: dying Units, acrylic sheets, box section steel, concrete blocks, LED lighting. Photography / Light Instillation: Paper/ Wheat gum. ProductionP build / construction / takedown / performances. Performance: staffing, stewards, security guards.

If you have ever spent a childhood summer, a lazy Sunday afternoon, or enjoyed an early morning walk on Ireland’s coast, we invite you to help us bring this project to life, and take the first step away from the passive role of spectator.

Thank you.