Laethanta Deireanacha an Uachtaráin, The last days of the President
John Carter, Anthony Kelly and Jay Roche
PROJECTOR is a collective of artists.
Projector 1.0 – The last days of the President showcases a collaboration between the artists John Carter, Anthony Kelly and Jay Roche. – Staged in December 2006 it was an outdoor installation set at an undisclosed location in the Wicklow hills consisting of a light projection displaying extracts from the final notes and unfinished letters of President Cearbhall Ó Daláigh (Fifth president of the Irish Republic 1974-76). It was documented on digital video and camera and is now available as a series of digital c-print photos (Projector 1.1) and a limited edition DVD (Projector 1.2). Projector1.0/1.1/1.2 is the first in an ongoing series
of projects.
Laethanta Deireanacha an Uachtaráin, The Last Days of the President
Thirty years ago President Cearbhall Ó Daláigh (the fifth President of the Irish Republic) resigned as Uachtaráin na hÉireann during a politically unstable period of recent Irish history. A series of events, in which the President clashed with the then Government lead to this resignation. However some doubt has existed as to the specific reasons for Ó Daláigh stepping down. Within two years he had died. In October 2006 the Projector collective read an article in the Irish Times by the journalist Jim Duffy describing the events leading up to Ó Daláigh's resignation. Intrigued by the personal story behind the political events they decided to research Ó Daláigh's writings and create an artwork in response to the events of the time. Particular to their interest was Ó Daláigh's state of mind in that crucial time before he resigned - as Jim Duffy put it -
"It is hard to read (Ó Daláigh's writings)... without wondering whether in October 1976 the fifth president of Ireland had either had a breakdown or was on the brink of one. That in itself could have caused a constitutional crisis had he remained in office, for while the Constitution covers what to do in the case of a president's permanent incapacity, it has no methodology for dealing with a temporary incapacity."
The Irish Times Oct. 2006*
In choosing what is now possibly an obscure political event in Irish history, the members of Projector wanted to reconnect with a world that they grew up in but that now seems very distant. The theme of a fallen King brought with it other connotations from Irish folk lore most notably Labhraidh Loingseach, the King with horses' ears, who's hidden words and secrets lead to his own downfall. Projector used extracts from the Ó Daláigh writings, now in the public domain, as the basis for a text soliloquy that formed the core of the artpiece.The last days of the President (Projector 1.0) initially took the form of an installation in the Wicklow Mountains on Dec.16th 2006. Using the words from Ó Daláigh's resignation papers (with thanks to the UCD Archive), Projector ran a six-hour event using light and text on a remote hillside. It was recorded over a six-hour period using digital video and a SLR digital camera.
Projector had no fixed idea at this stage what the end results of this event would be - in some ways it was enough to create the moment as a quiet reflection on a personal story behind political events. However having reviewed their documentary material, Projector have issued a series of digital c-print photos (Projector 1.1) of the event and a limited edition DVD (projector 1.2).
Anthony Kelly is a visual and sound artist who lives and works in Dublin. He exhibits regularly in Ireland and internationally and has recently shown in the Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise.
John Carter is a painter and installation artist. He has collaborated regularly with other artists.
Jay Roche is a visual artist who has exhibited both in Ireland and internationally. He has shown with the Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin and the Fenderensky Gallery, Belfast.
*quote from Irish Times by permission of the author.
