Truth and Infinity
Written Word Weekend, Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim. Four days of events based around the written word which I am helping to run. This is the first year so try and support it. To be held over August bank holiday weekend 2009.
http://www.writtenwordweekend.blogspot.comLabels: written word weekend
The 8th August 2008 marks the end of the three year land art piece entitled ‘666 777 888’ by the artist Stephen Rennicks. You can view a video which will give you a flavour of what it is all about at link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEZRcKVYKkYTo go deeper go here.
http://www.freewebs.com/666777888After that the next step would be to experience it for yourself. Directions are on the website, it will be open to view for all time but if anyone wants to join the artist for a tour in the near future you can email him privately.
http://www.freewebs.com/stephenrennicksAll along the project took and used existing megalithic stone structures as starting points and inspiration. There are now three sites, representing past, present and future in the landscape in a direct north/south running line.The first to be completed encompasses the present and is physically represented by an already existing ancient site of stone mounds of which an additional one was erected by the artist on 6th June 2006. This is located at Kilronan, over looking the town of Keadue in Co. Roscommon. Stone does not betray its age in this context so the ‘new’ mound could therefore have been built today or at anytime in the past. This places the structure as close as humanely possible in the circumstances to the eternal now of the present.The second site which represents the past is located to the south at the hill of Sheemore in Co. Leitrim, itself the site of a megalithic cairn. The white cross which is famously illuminated at night was placed on top of this cairn in 1950. It was illuminated red for one night only by the artist on 7th July 2007. Now firmly an event and memory of the past for those who saw it. The third and final part of this trilogy is the location and laying of foundation stones for a viewing point over looking the past and present sites. Located at the final turn in the roadway leading to the Wind Farm at Kilronan, where an ideal expanse naturally exists for the erection of this further stone mound. The final size and scale of which will be determined by the public, who it is hoped by the artist, if they deem it worthwhile, will collectively and anonymously build it over time by stone, rock or one pebble at a time. Regardless of this outcome, by using your imagination from this point you can glimpse perhaps a millisecond or more into your future and in so doing gain a perspective of another kind. From there, with the aid of these physical time markers, you should be able to experience an objective view of your place in the thread of time. What you see there may shock or simply confirm what you already know. The purpose of the artist is only to aid people in this matter.
Stephen Rennicks is taking part in this years Architecture show at The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim. The brief was to re-imagine a bridge and four artists and four architects were invited to take part. To view his concept, entitled 'The Natural Bridge', and the rest, you are invited to the opening at 5.30pm on Friday 23rd May. Stephen will also be leading a public tour of the whole exhibition on 31st May at 12 noon.
http://www.thedock.ie/He is also one of the artists featured in the Dennis McNulty curated 'Underground'. This exhibition will be held underneath Road Records on Fade St., Dublin, in what was previously a record shop. The theme for the show is 'the dematerialisation of the musical artefact' and 'the virtualisation of the musical experience'. Amongst other things he will have a film on show and an essay, ’The Return of Mystery’, in the accompanying publication. Stephen was invited to take part because of doing ‘Drexciya Research Lab‘. In operation since 2005, this is an online resource which takes the legendary and anonymous Detroit electronic music group Drexciya (1992 - 2002) and their many and mysterious on-going spin-off projects as its subject. This opening will be held on the 27th of June. For more precise details check Dennis McNulty‘s website closer to the date.
http://www.dennismcnulty.com/http://www.drexciyaresearchlab.blogspot.com/You will also find some button badge size art work of his at the ‘Badge Art Show’ to be held at the Mantua Project House, Co. Roscommon. The opening of this group exhibition will be held on Saturday 19th July from 8pm. It’s not too late to submit your own work to this joint Stitchy Press/Mantua promoted show. More details at following link.
http://www.myspace.com/badgeartshowThe 3 year in the making, ‘666, 777, 888’ project, which covers past, present and future comes to its conclusion on the 8th of August 2008. This is a land art piece which in very broad strokes so far involved; altering the horizon by building a mound of rocks to represent ‘present’ on 6th June 2006 at Kilronan, Co. Roscommon and one year later illuminating the normally white cross at Sheemore in Co. Leitrim red for one night only to create a memory for those who saw it, as the ‘past’ on 7th July 2007.
The ‘future’ aspect will be completed by aligning the 3 sites in a perfect row with a viewing point marker. It is hoped this viewing point will be built over time by people themselves but it will be given a good kick start by the artist first. Other ‘future’ aspects will come into play as well, as they did for the previous parts.
What all this means will be fully explained and documented online from 8/8/08. The artist will be leading a walking tour of the sites on the following day, Saturday 9th August from 2pm. Those interested should contact him by email privately to make arrangements and get directions. Come prepared for some light hill walking and with a packed lunch. If the day is good we can hopefully have a picnic enroute.
http://www.freewebs.com/666777888Finally, the first(?) purely virtual band, ‘Digitalis Ae’, now exists. This ongoing MySpace based project came out of an initial run at the above mentioned ‘Underground’ show but evolved into something else. It so far tackles at least two of Stephens favourite themes, imagination and context. Objectivity will hopefully get worked in there too over time!
http://www.myspace.com/digitalisae---------------------------------------------
http://www.freewebs.com/stephenrennicks
“By the beginning of our present 'earth condition' of evolution the human being had developed a physical body , a 'life body' and a soul body. A fourth member, the 'ego', is being incorporated during this stage - the spiritual core unique to each human being. The ego or 'I' is thus the youngest and least developed human member but, to the extent that we can gain access to it, the ego is capable of enabling us to take charge of our own destiny.
With our earth stage of evolution, the spiritual substance of the previous stages has condensed into physical matter. The coincidence of matter with the development of the human ego produces a new situation in evolution. The spatial separation between human beings and their environment gives us the basis for objectivity and freely determining how much, and in what way, we interact with the world. At the same time, this condensing process has the effect of obscuring the spiritual forces that lie behind the world as we experience it with our normal senses.
Thus having created the four-membered human being, the spiritual world has now withdrawn from our field of vision. In the free space thus created, it is now open to human beings to take responsibility for their own destiny and thereby the future of cosmic evolution. This future involves the further transformation of the human being and our world.
Today we face the challenge of seeing through the apparently material nature of the physical body to its underlying spiritual form, which originated in Old Saturn and to which it will return at the end of the course of evolution."
Andrew Beard
Stephen Rennicks has a new video piece entitled
'Transfixed by the Spectacle of the Means of our Destruction' on view at The Dock in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim. It runs on a silent 4 minute loop and is about exactly what the title states. Or put it another way, the feeling of going to watch 'An Inconvenient Truth' and having no choice but to drive home. Happy Christmas.
http://www.thedock.ie
Meditation for the Michaelic AgeWe must eradicate from the soul all fear and terror of what comes to us out of the future.
We must acquire serenity in all feelings and sensations of the future.
We must look forward with absolute equanimity to everything that may come.
We must think only that whatever comes is given to us by a divine world directive, full of wisdom.
It is part of what we must learn in this age, namely, to live out of pure trust - without any security in existence, trust in the ever-present help of the spiritual world.
Truly, nothing else will do if our courage is not to fail us.
Let us discipline our will, and let us seek the awakening from within ourselves, every morning and evening.
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"A way of knowledge which brings the hidden to revelation is apt to overcome all hopelessness, perplexity and despair - in short, all that weakens human life on Earth and incapacitates it from contributing its service to the cosmic whole."
Rudolf Steiner
“Certain people are over and over proclaiming to the world that democracy must spread to the whole civilised world. Salvation lies in making the whole of humanity democratic; everything will have to be smashed to pieces so that democracy may spread in the world. Well, if people go on to accept ideas presented to them as they are, with wholesale acceptance of the term democracy, for instance, their idea of democracy will be like the definition of a human being which I gave you: 'A human being is a creature with two legs and without feathers: a plucked cockerel’. Concepts are taken for reality, and as a result illusion may take the place of reality where human life is concerned by lulling people to sleep with concepts.”
“It is interesting to note that in 1910 someone (the French economist Francis Delaisi) wrote that large-scale capitalism had succeeded in making democracy into the most effective tool for exploiting the whole population. Financiers were usually imagined to be the enemies of democracy, an individual concerned wrote, but this was a fundamental error. On the contrary, they run democracy and encourage it, for it provides a screen behind which they can hide their method of exploitation, and find it their best defence against any objections which the populace may raise. "
"For once therefore a man woke up and saw that what mattered was not to proclaim democracy but to see the full reality, not to follow slogans, but to see things as they really are. This would be particularly important today, for people would then realize that the events which reign with such blood and terror over the whole of humanity are guided from just a few centres.”
Rudolf Steiner speaking in 1917
Stephen Rennicks, the Leitrim based conceptual artist, has a solo show entitled 'With and Without Context' at the Mantua Project House, Co. Roscommon on 20th October 2007 from 8pm. The two exhibition rooms there will feature mostly new and previously unseen work produced by the artist since moving from his Dublin base over 2 years ago. One room explores the artists influences, the other concentrates on new work. His show will run the art practice gamut to include paper collage, found art, charcoal and line drawing, sound, video, xerox, photography and installation. Such variety is possible because as this is his first truly solo exhibition in such a large space he is taking it as an opportunity to show a wide cross section of the work which he has been amassing naturally in his practice outside of specific projects or commissions, hence the show's title.
Since moving to Co. Leitrim, Stephen Rennicks has, amongst other things, exhibited the second part of his ‘Black Lough’ trilogy at Carrick-on-Shannon’s premier exhibition space The Dock, left CDs of his sound piece ‘Time’ on the door of the Costello Memorial Chapel and given CD copies of ‘Temporary Residence’ to each of the residents of the Marymount apartment complex to mark the end of his stay there.
The centre piece of the influences room, ‘More Than a Music Seat’, is a sculpture of a particularly comfortable looking armchair made entirely from roughly 10 years worth of back issues of what was once known as the ‘weekly UK music press’, magazines such as NME, Melody Maker and Sounds. Now obsolete but from the artists collection so plenteous in numbers and bulk as to create a chair as homage, on a surface level, to all the sitting down and reading they have inspired in him. The inspiration they provided for him as first contact point with so many ‘underground’ artists and their idea’s is more subtly represented. This piece in particular has long been envisaged by the artist but could not until now find a suitable outlet.
The show also marks the return of 'Spirit Recorder', previously unveiled during the 2005 Carrigallen Arts Festival in Co. Leitrim and now back by popular demand in an updated and expanded fashion! Also on show will be the first public glimpse of the artists long term 'Everyday Actions' project.
Stephen Rennicks would like to thank everyone involved with the artist led Mantua Arts Project for both inviting him to show his work and continuing to provide such a necessary outlet for artists working in the Roscommon area. For more information on them go to
http://www.mantuaproject.com/ and for more information on the artist go to
www.freewebs.com/stephenrennicksThe Mantua project house is sign posted and can be located on the right hand side when travelling the R369 road between Elphin and Bellanagare.
This show is offically open only for the opening night but will be left up to view for a few days, can't promise that video and audio will always be switchwed on but rest will be present and correct. Should be someone there to let you in.
