The Concourse Installation Programme 2006 'Changing Spaces'

Essay by Sarah Finlay

Changing Landscapes
Changing Spaces

“Un paysage quelconque est un état de l’âme.”(1)

Any landscape is a condition of the soul.

2006 sees the first curated show in the Concourse series which, since 1999, has been organised on the basis of Open Submission. So it is that Fergus Byrne, Rhona Byrne and Sally Timmons were
invited to respond to the broad theme of Changing Landscapes.(2) All three artists have been dealing with aspects of change in previous work, so it was of interest to see how they might respond to this theme in the context of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County in general and the Concourse Space in particular.

The element of Change has been a necessary and welcome influence in the evolution of this project. Organisational aims and aspirations have been usefully revised and, at time of writing, the artists are still in the process of developing and defining their own creative ideas.

Notwithstanding this organic approach, the constant exploration of Space is essential to all of the work presented here. Diverse and multiple manifestations of space have been uniquely considered and carefully investigated: physical space, personal space, public space, social space... The fundamental question underlying all, being how we relate to the space that surrounds and defines us.

Fergus Byrne’s animation of the Concourse Space itself reminds us how context is always significant. A space changes according to how we are in it; and our consciousness of this change inevitably transforms us. Walking, running, standing still, alone or with others, eyes open or shut - these ways of being in a space offer different experiences and responses. The world may seem to be in a state of flux; the core, however, remains still and the same.

For a long time Rhona Byrne has been interested in how we adapt to and create our own space, in the context of an increasingly rapidly changing world. The ‘Kissing Gate’, which allows us to move from one space to another, offers the possibility of a transitional space from where we might view our surroundings. We are necessarily not alone in this place: to make the journey we must be kissed by the person who has gone through before us. There is choice and there is trust and there are possibilities for connection and transformation.

Sally Timmons, employing her distinctively research/action - based modus operandi, has engaged with the physical space that is Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, searching out its particular idiosyncrasies and identities. Her investigations into the ways in which we leave our mark - and claim (our) space - have their origins in a particular interest in the Victorians, who significantly influenced the appearance of the county by the way in which they collected (and named after themselves) hundreds of botanical specimens. Consciously or unconsciously, we continue to leave our legacies on today’s many landscapes.

So there is CHANGE and there is SPACE .
And for these concepts and themes to emerge and take shape, a certain openness is required. And if our encounters with and in these shared spaces allows us the chance to grow, our own landscapes will naturally unfold and expand.

Sarah Finlay
Exhibition Curator

Sarah Finlay is a freelance curator and arts consultant based in Dublin.

(1)Henri Fréderic Amiel (1811-1881), Fragments d’un journal intime, 10 Feburary, 1846.
(2)The choice of such a currently relevant theme is linked to the overall concept of Physical Regeneration, which has informed an ambitious five-year residency, begun earlier this year by artist Julie Merriman, and focusing specifically on the redevelopment of Dun Laoghaire’s Carlisle Pier

Introduction by Sarah Finlay, Curator | Fergus Byrne | Rhona Byrne | Sally Timmons
Information & Associated Events

Previous Concourse Installations Programmes 1999 - 2005