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NEW FAITH LOVE SONG - composite image of live performance
NEW FAITH LOVE SONG - Installation detail - Irish Museum of Modern Art, RHK, Kilmainham, Dublin 8, Ireland. - (Photo - Dennis Mortell)
NEW FAITH LOVE SONG - RADIO AND GOLD LOVE HEARTS - (Photo - Dennis Mortell)
NEW FAITH LOVE SONG - Peel Board with microphone and cable - Irish Museum of Modern Art
NEW FAITH LOVE SONG - Shure microphone and cable - Irish Museum of Modern Art
IRISH MUSEUM OF MODERN ART - NEW FAITH LOVE SONG - 21st June 2012 - 23 September 2012
A project involving the bell-ringers of two cathedrals and a site-specific installation at the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
NEW FAITH LOVE SONG began with a live sound work with the bell-ringers of both Christ Church Cathedral and St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin city centre, which was heard along Nicholas Street from 9.00 to 9.25pm on Thursday 21 June 2012.
Following on from the performance, an exhibition by Phelan of drawings, sculptures, animations and photographic documentation spanning three floors was opened at the New Galleries at IMMA on Friday 22 Jun 2012.
NEW FAITH LOVE SONG was a striking embodiment of the modern day dilemma that many feel in relation to faith and the quest for an explanation for the mystery, marvel and miracle of the world around us. As two of Dublin’s most iconic institutions, Phelan saw the cathedrals as transmitters pronouncing the arrival of ‘new faith’. The ambient sound work became a living sculpture intertwined with the existing fabric of Dublin’s frenetic soundscape. It was ephemeral, at times distinct and at times fused with the sounds of Dublin city, it revealed itself in different ways to the listener as they made their way along Nicholas Street through the course of the performance, but at all times the conversation continued between two great monuments.The bell towers broadcast this sound beyond its natural limits, staving off its own decay. The sound waves were projected into the ether, with the message that ‘All is OK’ – a modest yet reassuring affirmation of faith.
Phelan views both the live sound work and the exhibition as one piece, the exhibition at IMMA acting as an artefact of the temporal live performance. Exhibited were drawings, sculptures, animations, and photographic documentation of the bell-ringers torsos, ropes and mechanisms within the bell towers. A number of the drawings are a meditation on the process of arranging the sound work; visually
rendering the ropes, and notation.
The exhibition is an extension of Phelan’s sentiment of NEW FAITH LOVE SONG; a testimony and celebration of our very own mortality and our humanity in these uncertain times.
This exhibition was commissioned by former Director of IMMA Enrique Juncosa, and is co-curated by him and Rachael Thomas, Senior Curator: Head of Exhibitions, IMMA. This exhibition is accompanied by publication designed by Peter Maybury.
NEW FAITH LOVE SONG - IMMA - http://www.imma.ie/en/page_212509.htm
The St Patrick’s Cathedral Amateur Society of Change Ringers: http://www.stpatrickscathedral.ie
The Christ Church Cathedral Bell Ringers: http://www.christchurchdublin.ie
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