The Gadfly

description

What is it?
The Gadfly consists of 80ft of white cowhide, sourced from a local farm and tanned by the artists using techniques that are no longer in use in Ireland. Tanning cowhide is a laborious and complicated process that includes a lot of patience, trial and error. The finished length of cowhide will be stretched between two identical cast bronze clothes manglers, powered by motors and positioned on mild steel plinths at opposite ends of the space. The sculpture will then be switched on to pull the cowhide up horizontally for a fixed period of time. The audience is invited to the exhibiton space at The Pigeon House Studios during Kinsale Arts Week, in July 2011 to witness The Gadfly in operation at prescribed hours of the day.

Why we need your help?
The Gadfly is in the final stages of production. As with all projects on this scale we have had additional unforeseen costs that we need to reach, they are as follows;

• to help fund the material costs and labour to create an exhibition space
• to help fund the rental of lighting equipment for the space

We have secured a building next to The Pigeon House Studios in Kinsale to exhibit the work during the festival, but in its current state needs a lot of work to turn it into a viable exhibition space. We’re looking for your support to transform this amazing space by purchasing the materials needed to build and paint this space to a high standard. As an integral part of presenting The Gadfly we also need to hire lighting equipment that will create the mood within the space that we envisage.

OurVision?
The Gadfly is a modern take on the greek myth “Io and the Gadfly”.
The artists have used this myth as a conceptual crutch to create an artwork that deals with modern forms of individual angst and torment. “Our vision is to create an atmosphere within the space for the audience to ingest. The whirr of the motors, the selective lighting and the sensory reaction to the materials used, hair, flesh, metal, sets up a dynamic of opposites where time is measured. A tension is created through the static plinths, the slow movement of the hide through the rollers of the mangler’s, standing at opposite ends of the room, a mirror image of itself. This time based equation generates a moving presence to be witnessed, the human mind at work in solid sculptural form.”

Benefits
With your kind help we will be able to see that this unique art work gets an exhibition space to create a serious installation and showstopper. The benefit to us is that we kick start our career together as “Ffrench Harte” and use this work as a springboard in creating a new body of work over the coming months.

Thank you for your time and a huge thank you for your support.