Thursday, July 21, 2011

No Man's Land 1


Image:Andreas Pettersson

No Man's Land, my latest project will appear on the Liffey for two weeks beginning on September 10. I plan on mooring a floating desert island west of the Samuel Beckett Bridge replete with palm trees, a hammock and a tent. I will live on the island and relay my experiences on the Liffey using this blog, twitter & facebook. The project has been commissioned and co-produced by the Absolut Fringe Festival.



My practice has been focused on the Liffey for several years. I thought the ultimate expression of this interest would be to temporarily live on the Liffey for a period. I think the river is incredibly beautiful, a paradise if you will which inspires my desire to locate a desert/paradise island on its waters.

I hope to make paintings of the river while in residence and also read books about other island adventures beginning with Robinson Crusoe. I'm going to bring along a few cool boxes full of provisions, a fishing rod and a camp stove. A rescue boat will be keeping a watchful eye over the island at all times from a nearby quay. If the weather becomes stormy and conditions are unsafe I will leave the island until it's safe to return. No Man's Land will be illuminated from dusk every night.

We are assembling a ten metre wide pontoon using dozens of plastic barrels framed in a wooden box. A vaguely hemispherical profile will be constructed on its surface topped off with a final layer of a sandy resin. Two palm trees will be built into the apex of the structure and an a-line tent will be pitched on its west side.

On Wednesday the Irish Times ran an article about No Man's Land which you can read here.





At the launch of the Absolut Fringe programme the Arts Minister Jimmy Deenihin commented on the project,
“I was very taken by the Monopoly houses I saw floating in the Liffey last year. I notice that artist Fergal McCarthy has another great idea this year, I wouldn’t mind spending a night there myself! It certainly catches the imagination.”

I was interviewed by Morning Ireland on RTE Radio 1 about No Man's Land, you can listen to it here.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

A little late for the suggestion but wouldn't a makeshift hut from palm leaves make more sense? Who gets stranded with a tent?

Friday Lover said...

Hi Fergal. What a mad idea you had. I like it. Are you still there?
Seb