Foymaster

A description of world without sun (2011) - for project group

2012-01-04T10:05:00.000-08:00

The piece I created was an immersive installation called "world without sun". The title is named after an undersea documentary by Jacques mad in the 1950s It's a small room meant to be a fictional man's personal study, the kind that used to be popular with Irish men quite a while ago. Inside, everything is made to look old and slightly dishevelled. The wallpaper is purposely applied badly and darkened to replicate rising damp etc. There's a correspondence written between two men by typewriter on the wall dated from the 1950s, and a fictional Irish 1950s magazine cover with one of the men on it. The letters are about their failed attempts to get a huge hydroelectric project built in Ireland at the time.

The piece is about utopianism and changing views of the idea of the "future" or "the futuristic" through different eras, it's also about playing around with the idea of a concrete history and archives as much of the piece is falsified.

To Les

2011-12-17T22:28:00.000-08:00

For my grandfather, Lesley Foy. Even dyed in the wool atheists need to have Anniversaries (even if they’re late or on the wrong date).As a child I mistook your often quiet, contemplative nature for something terrifying. I think it’s only now that I understand your calm intelligence and the true achievement of becoming a self educated intellectual, a hard labourer and a parent at the same time, all without compromising yourself in any of your roles. I now understand the fact that, instead of being “friendly”,you refused to talk down to any of your grandchildren. I only wish you had’ve been around for longer. I normally don’t post things like this, but I don’t believe in a god and neither did you. So I believe you need to be honoured in this life instead of needing praise for the next.

World Without Sun 2011 -Science Gallery Trinity Dec 2011

2011-12-16T12:39:00.000-08:00

The Silent world

2011-11-08T15:47:00.000-08:00

Some Screen captures I took from Jacques Cousteau's "The Silent World". I'm watching his work for my
current project in college. It actually fits in with what I'm interested in more than visually, as the whole thing is a "semi-documentary" a staged documentary or perhaps a scripted film with real consequences. We are never sure what is real and what is merely presented as such.

The Fall -Wings

2011-10-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

It took me ages to get into the fall after spending a long time wondering what the fuss was about. Now I know!

The first full album I listened to was their first: "Live at the Witch trials", it's really great, I highly recommend it.

Can't get enough of this song at the moment, check it out!

New camera: Optima 335 sensor

2011-10-24T10:31:00.000-07:00

Got this new camera today for €8. I actually tried to haggle with the auld one in the charity shop (dont judge me!) on the basis that I didn't know whether it works or not. "Them old cameras do be worth loads in a few years, thats a bargain that is." I was told. Its from the 70s, Im hoping to use it to take some old looking pictures with expired film for my project. The next thing I need is a more portable typewriter so I can work at home. I love my Adler one, but now that it's located in my studio I can only use it in college. It literally weights about 2 stone, it's seriously ridiculous. I'm using the typewriter to write a fake correspondence between too men who are trying to get the green light for some kind of sea/water based project in 1950s Ireland. I'm going to scan a few pics as well as upload some shots of the typewriter soon.

LOW

2011-10-12T10:20:00.000-07:00

Jacques Coustuea lives under the sea

2011-10-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

Soul Clap - Love Light - YouTube

2011-09-12T07:01:00.000-07:00

Tiger & Woods - Gin Nation - YouTube

2011-09-12T05:44:00.000-07:00

Ruth-Romain Polaroid Photo

2011-08-21T11:34:00.000-07:00

Umberto- Forsaken dawn

2011-08-19T18:10:00.000-07:00

Bus intarnets

2011-06-01T07:35:00.001-07:00

Just had an amazing two days in the beautiful galway city with my beautiful girlfriend Marie. Galway is a really interesting place, its actually the first Irish city outside of Dublin I've visited in about 5 years (except for castlebar. Let's not count that, its a hole). It's really interesting to see how pedestrianised and well layed out the whole place is, I kind of wish Dublin was a lot more like it. In some ways it would make a nicer capital, I think. Next stop cork. Or barcelona. Or both. Also R.E. the title, I'm using the free wi fi on our journey home. Marie just said she thought my blog was about art, and she's right, it normally is. However, I haven't posted in so long, I just wanted to get the ball rolling again, as well as testing out blogging via my phone! Kisses xxxx

Putting my name on everything

2011-04-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

Made this from chopping, rearranging colouring and multiplying various parts of an old etching of a thrush.
The shape is partially inspired by paintings of Indian gods.

Clockout

2011-03-02T19:08:00.001-08:00

Mega Glum

2011-01-12T19:56:00.000-08:00

Video the first: I wish I had a friend like this

Video the second:

First drawing in about 3-4 months

2011-01-05T14:29:00.000-08:00

Went up to get my insured iPod touch replaced in HMV Blanchardstown today. They wouldnt replace it, BUT two good things came out of it, 1. I remembered what a shithole Blanchardstown is and resolved to never go there out of choice again and 2. this drawing that I did of people on the bus. I often wish I could have an exhibition of drawings of people I've done on the bus and invite them all to surprise them. This is what moleskines were made for!! You can click to enlarge I think.

More Preparation for Painting

2011-01-04T09:13:00.000-08:00

Preparation for painting

2011-01-04T08:02:00.000-08:00

1984 and Beyond: Part 1

2010-12-21T18:19:00.000-08:00

I'm Still reeling from viewing '1984 and Beyond' by Gerard Byrne in Tate Britain almost a month ago. I've since re-relocated to Ireland and am having the time of my young life (AKA settling down if the welfare ask) and thus have not had time to write a review/polemic about this work which I saw almost a month ago.

I'd like to say that although I am in no way a hater of video art I'm often put off by the long viewing times and seemingly arbitrary editing/focusing/picture quality. So naturally, when walking into a room of headphones attached to flatscreens I feel slightly apprehensive although I try to overcome any prejudice I feel. This counts as literally one of the first times I've sat for over an hour watching a piece of video art (or maybe it should be more accurately described as video art tableau, who knows: that could be a whole extra blog post) and when it looped back to the start thought "is that it? It can't be over! I can't believe it's not butter!".

1984 and beyond by Dublin artist Gerald Byrne is a beautifully shot re-creation, or more accurately re-imagining, of conversations transcribed in playboy magazine between pioneering 1960s sci-fi authors such as Arthur C. Clarke and Rod Serling. The Subject of the conversations transcribed is (as you might have guessed) this: What will the world be like for the average person by 1984? The format of the recreation is a heady mix of Mad Men and Plato's Symposium shot beautifully on film. Actors playing oft-bespectacled and dapper (yet slightly hip-looking) 60s Alpha male thinkers debate about the future of humanity in a pristine yet homely looking modernist building that could have been built anywhere between 1920 to 1960. The smug reactions and comforting laughs as each takes his turn to speak tells of an all-male fraternity who feel like they are in the same boat together, competing to be the scribe or Nostradamus of the future. At some point during their 60s symposium, you begin to think whilst hearing their wild technological fantasies about what their 1984 will be like: At what stage did the future stop being a Utopia and become a Dystopia? At what stage did we stop thinking that our robot butlers would serve us harmless drug mojitos in bed and Begin thinking that we might have to decapitate people for Oil?

Was the dream of a Utopia (technological or not) as childlike and foolish as it seems now? Or are we foolish
to no longer dream but expect the worst, like a dog that's been kicked to many times? Or is the answer at this
stage..... who the hell knows?

I have more to say about this topic..

Take that, Gustav Eiffel

2010-10-27T12:40:00.000-07:00

This is from a series coyly titled "Studies in perspective" by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who you
might know for the ceramic sunflower seed installation in them Tate's turbine hall (closed down by health and safety due to worries about ceramic dust particles). The images are totally irreverent, essentially documenting a worldwide tour to give the finger to various famous monuments and places. Fuck you to monumentalism? Self-affirmation in the face of a history written by others? Or a bit of a laugh? Who gives a fuck, it's great.
What else would you expect from the man who's curated show "fuck you" was, on the offense-scale, equivalent of "Freeze" multiplied by twenty? One of the reasons Chinese art is so hot right now is because chinese contemporary art is relatively young and indeed the country has barely been on the map contemporary art-wise until recent years. The art scene seems a lot more varied and unbridled. To me, it seems as if some of the cynicisim the "it's already been done"-ism hasn't seemed to have taken a hold. I could be completely wrong, but as an outsider looking in, this is what it feels like. Very much, a 90s YBA, 80s New york, feel but with better technical skill and a more personal point of view.

Back in black

2010-09-27T00:48:00.001-07:00

back in black with a new Android phone a fancy job and new outlook. I've decided that I'm going to pursue fine art once more, like i wanted to before i became disillusioned. Thats not to say that illustration won't feature in my life or in this blog anymore, just that it hopefully won't be playing centre stage. Should have some notebook stuff ive been working on for a big project up soon.

Finally finished!!

2010-08-09T12:34:00.000-07:00

I made this as a present for my neice Alannah who lives in australia with my brother and his partner. I'll assume she doesn't read this blog so it's going to be a surprise!

Best Darn cinema in whitechapel boys!

2010-08-06T21:19:00.000-07:00

DJ set

2010-07-17T05:23:00.000-07:00

Yo...this is my first DJ set that I'm playing today, It's not ordered, I hav eno idea what order everything
will be played in, think I might just feel it out. Will be co-DJing with my housemate Ollie who is a master of
Dub, afrobeat and all things good.

1. The Fall - Frightened (5:03)
2. Birdy Nam Nam - Red Dawn Rising (4:51)
3. Boards of Canada - 1969 (4:20)
4. The Bug - Skeng ft.Killa P - Flowdan (4:39)
5. Buggles - Clean Clean (3:54)
6. VITALIC - Poney (Part 1) (5:23)
7. The Coup - Pork and Beef (4:00)
8. Datarock - Sex me up (3:07)
9. Wire - Practice Makes Perfect (4:06)
10. Dizzee Rascal - Pussyole (Oldskool) (3:27)
11. DS-10 Dominator - Concept Art (3:11)
12. Giorgio Moroder - I'm left, you're right, she's gone (5:08)
13. AMG - The Vertical Joyride (2:30)
14. Girl Talk - Once Again (2:40)
15. Dakar & Grinser - I Wanna Be Your Dog (5:03)
16. Tim Exile - Family Galaxy (5:05)
17. Roots Manuva - 13 Well Alright (3:57)
18. Iggy Pop - Nightclubbing (4:15)
19. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Hong Kong Garden (3:10)
20. Harmonia - Notre Dame (4:12)
21. Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Music For A Found Harmonium (3:39)
22. Holy Fuck - Super Inuit (Live) (3:34)
23. Can - Oh Yeah (7:24)
24. Joakim - Lonely Hearts (4:34)
25. Ladytron - Oops Oh My (4:39)
26. Ladytron - Oops Oh My (4:39)
27. Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygène, Pt. I (7:40)
28. Joakim - Lonely Hearts (4:34)
29. Gary Numan - Metal (5:22)
30. Playdoe - Pop Like This (3:18)
31. Ludacris - Cry Babies (Oh No) Ft Scarface (5:56)
32. Chromeo - Ah Oui Comme Ca (7:59)
33. Alter Ego - Fuckingham Palace (6:12)

TAFFIN: Ireland's greatest hero

2010-07-03T18:47:00.000-07:00

Irish Cinema's greatest product. Essentially this movie is about Pearse brosnan living in the fictional town of "Ballymoran" (which may or may not be in meath), working as a badass, under-the-table debt collector. All is well in his life until the local corporation try to build an evil chemical plant on the Local GAA field.....then he gets mad.
One of the funniest things about this movie is the way that every single bad guy is either upper-class British or
has a broad Dublin accent. Also, for some reason there's a lot of unexpected shouting in the film. Here's an awesome clip, the whole hting is up on youtube if you want to watch it. Do it, you won't regret it. The man. The legend. Taffin.

Cycling is rapid...

2010-07-02T06:52:00.000-07:00

....according to my new drawing. Maybe I'm starting to be able to draw again?
Have to find a decent life drawing class over here.

Work in Progress...

2010-06-25T20:51:00.000-07:00

This is a little drawing I've been working on for a couple of days using "Manga Studio Pro EX" and my Wacom bamboo.Despite the incredibly lame name (in Japan it's merely called Comic studio) it's the best Art program I've used so far in terms of simulation of real drawing, the drawing tools feel so natural, the layout is straightforward and the layer options are great. I highly recommend it if you're into pen, Ink or pencil drawing.
The drawing is something for my little neice in Australia. It's still a bit rough, especially the background.
One of the reasons I'd lovet to have a Wacom cintiq is to produce stuff like this more quickly!

Ultimate 90s Dance Playlist

2010-06-07T20:17:00.001-07:00

Coming soon

The Racial Slur Database

2010-06-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

Why does this website exist? Is it so that you can look up an insult for someone
from an obscure country? "Hmmm...it doesnt sound as good when I just use the term 'Kajekhistan Bollocks' "
http://www.rsdb.org/

The Future as it Was

2010-06-07T18:38:00.000-07:00

I've been Playing a lot of Fallout 3 on my PC in the past week. If you've been living under a rock or just don't like computer games; it's a First person shooter set in what the future would be like if the cold war had escalated into a full scale Nuclear conflict. The design in the game is really great, everything has a swinging-fifties, futuristic world-fair type look about it. Hmm, that seems like too many Hyphens. It's really well thought out, even the skill menus are done in a 50s style. Another game I should mention that's fifties inspired is
Bioshock.

Natruleich, I really like it because I spent most of 3rd and fourth year in college doing projects on "retro-utopianism" or "retro-futurism" which were about everything from the promise of better living through new

products, to the shortening of cycles of nostalgia for the past, to the concept of a country as a utopian construct.This is how I formed my obsession with former East Germany. Natruleich ich didn't pull it off as well as I could've because the concept was so broad and I was younger, less skilled and more naive. I'm actually
lthinking of remaking some of the images at the moment and considering how I could do it in a different way.

By happy coincidence (or perhaps synchronicity), George Clooney's 'Goodnight and Good Luck' was on TV tonight. It's about Edward R Murrow, a journalist who was one of the first to Criticise the McCarthyist Red-Scare and the so-called 'witch-hunts' on his CBS tv show "See it now". The film really manages to capture the paranoid mood of the time and also showcases some of the more ridiculous cigarette sponsorship ads (Kent, the thinking person's cigarette!). So I naturally had a quick google of his career and found out that he later ended up as the head of the United states Information agency, who as far as I can gather actively promoted US policies to it's citizens and abroad. In other words, Murrow ended up making cold war propaganda films. When I googled Mr. Murrows name this little Doozy of a video starring him popped up.

To be fair, he's not really engaging in USSR-baiting and you end up thinking 'Ok, this is biased and pretty silly, but not the worst example of one of these videos I've seen'. That is....until the DUKE shows up! That's right, John Wayne himself makes an appearance to showcase the fun loving nature of americans by showing us a group of soldiers singing "Rock around the clock" and American football among other things and it all degenerates from there. Oh freedom!

I think this has inspired me to revisit some of my retro utopian stuff anyway.

Watch it!

Insane Clown Posse's Miracles

2010-05-28T06:57:00.000-07:00

I'd like to present you with a video by rap group ICP (insane clown posse) about how wonderful the motherufckin' world around us is. Some beautiful stuff here, allow me to quote:

Water, fire, air and dirt

Fucking magnets, how do they work?

And I don’t wanna talk to a scientist

Y’all motherfuckers lying, and getting me pissed

If you've never heard of these guys, they basically imagine themselves as clown gangstas whose fan's pride themselves on being losers and call themselves "Juggalos" (Geddit?Juggle? Gigalo?), they're probably most famous for Eminem allegedly beating up one member Skinny J (guess which one he is) after Em's wife flirted with him.

I don't know which is more embarassing, getting beaten up by Eminem or having your wife come onto a clown.

The Ethics of Crab lice Vengeance

2010-05-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

Recently found several websites that sell people crab lice eggs for the purpose of revenge.I can think of so many things wrong with this but still can't over the promise that "most of the licewill not have hatched by the time they are delivered" and they throw in some anti-infestation pubic shampootoo just in case you take mercy on your target or manage to infest yourself. I think the latter is morelikely.
Both sites have quite a nasty mysogynistic undercurrent ("Show that cheating bitch who's boss! Humiliate her like she humiliated you by sleeping around!"). However, both sites are absolutely adamant that what they do is legal and should be viewed as "mischief" at best. Those Crazy mischievous rascals, what'll
be their next trick? Ebola-in-a-cake? Hepatitis tampons?

http://www.revengecrabs.com/

or

http://www.crabrevenge.com/

My mate phil reckon's he might be able to get VICE magazine to pay for some for an assignment or something. Score!

Dear me: Screenprint my Stuff

2010-05-04T08:23:00.000-07:00

I've been spending the last couple of months scanning and digitally altering my drawings but
thus far, they've not made it much further than the screen of my laptop. In terms of art (and most other things) I've been a lazy slug lately, so I guess now that I'm in London I'll drop into the totally Boss Print Club and try actually turn some of these images into something solid.

£40 for a beginners course sounds pretty decent (up yours Irish screen printing studios) and considering I've forgotten the little I was taught about screen printing in Art College it'll be good practice. Hopefully they won't mind me printing images
I made myself for the beginner's course. I REALLY want to print this:

Snooze Button Logic

2010-05-04T06:39:00.000-07:00

Seriosusly, who invented the snooze button?

"Hey guys, I've invented something that allows people who have stayed up too late to not oversleep,A kind of alarm; we're gonna be rich!"

"I don't know about this Paul, are we cornering the whole market with this thing? Maybe we could add something for people who like to sleep in...yknow?"

"Why would they have set the alarm if they like to sleep in? Won't it just make people turn off the alarm when they need to be in work and make them late for everything?"

"There's only one way to find out: build the feature into every single one of these devices we ever make"

"*Sigh*, this is why I wanted to become a florist"

" Did you say something?"

"I said, c'mere and kiss me you big lug"

Korsan Bar/Club

2010-04-08T14:02:00.000-07:00

For all of you who think this is a fast-food based blog, you now stand corrected. Yes it's true,
once in a while I manage to pry myself off my Divan with a dustpan and roll myself to the odd
Music and alcohol based event.

The story is this: Korsan is a hipster-style hangout in shoreditch/dalston. Drinks are cheap enough (£3-£4) and spirit and mixer the same price.
Music is Decent, and reminded me both of when wax was still decent (can't remember if it still exists) and when Backlash was still banging and not named "mr.jones" after a song by the counting crows or whoever the fuck. It looks like a little like a cheap tourist bar in Thailand on the inside, whilst stil looking a bit like Q-bar. The toilets (I have found out) have been rated among the cleanest in Shoreditch/Dalston-there IS a reason for this as I found out once I witnessed the 15 man queue for the cubicle. The Music sounded Like electro house but don't quote me on it as I got so fucked up I both lost my wallet AND harassed Simon Amstell from Never mind the Buzzcocks.

Cue emergency calls to my bank, and morning SHAME.

Anyhow I seem to have lost the plot. Go if you have the chance it's a decent spot.

Chicken Cottage

2010-04-08T13:11:00.000-07:00

Going here tonight. VERY excited. I'm imagining the Halal chicken place on clambrassil street but more tasy and Ghetto. Might get a Junior Spesh

Brighton's favourite food

2010-04-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

This was probably the 5th most exciting thing that happened to me in Brighton. Amongst the others eating a durty Bur-Gar, drinking my first pint of goth's favourite Snakebite and Black and sticking my hand in a sink to unblock orla's vomit!Me Orla and Killian arrived saturday evening and finally got to meet Killian's boyfriend when he came to meet him at the train station. Brighton is great, bit more central and personal than London with loads of great boozers, cheap places to eat and Friendly goths. I say: brighton abú. Next adventure out I'm bringing my camera. Camera abú.

Gettin' the Bryan Ferry

2010-03-31T22:23:00.000-07:00

This song is dedicated to both my getting the pun-tastically titled High speed ferry
"The Johnathan Swift" over to Holyhead, and also dedicated to the Big Man Oisín Merrins who I'll miss very much. Who else will I punch cakes with and shout out the windows of cars with? Anyway, here's to you.

Going to London town

2010-03-30T06:24:00.000-07:00

Well, this blog has fallen derilict for a long time...
I'm gonna ressuretct it and use it to share my adventures in London (moving this thursday!). Hopefully there'll be a lot more pics. Watch this space!!

Artificial Paradise Polemic

2009-03-24T12:04:00.000-07:00