'The Big I Am' microsite goes on-air

Check out Austin Maguire's guide to the fresh-faced talent on show at the 2008 Upstarts Exhibition.

Disappearing Crafts and Culture

Ray Flynn retired from the Department of Visual Communication in NCAD this year. Last weekend I visited a small exhibition of his photographic work in Colman Doyle's, Wexford town. Over the last 30 years Ray has travelled all over Ireland, capturing images of traditional Irish crafts and craftspeople. This collection of black and white images - silver gelatine prints developed at home by the man himself - was on show as part of this year's Wexford Opera Fringe Festival.


Detail from 'The Village Postman', taken in Co Wexford, 1972.



The prints are a small selection taken from a wider collection Ray will publish as a book in the near future.

"These images are made up of studies of craftspeople in Ireland working in their own environment. They are sure to remind some viewers of how things were done, by hand, before the Industrial Changes, Celtic Tiger and Digital Revolution, forming a visual trip down memory lane. The exhibition should be of educational value for younger viewers who may never have the opportunity to see many of these traditional crafts in real life. The same could be said of the fine examples of Irish culture, which make up the second element of this exhibition."

Stamp superlatives

Finished pieces to be shown at this week's Upstarts exhibition.

Exhibition latest, latest

Mildly warm off the press, the invitation for next week's show:


Ladies and Gentlemen, The Big I Am.

Rothco reconnaissance

With last night's briefing still ringing in my ears, I got down to Rothco at lunchtime today to do a reccy on the new gallery space.





A fun game of cat-and-mouse was had with this lady who was also there to 'officially' photograph the place.

Exhibition meeting, take 2

The Upstarts design group was summoned to ICAD towers this evening to discuss the latest twists, turns, and twists in the exhibition planning process.


Kate Brangan, forewoman on the job, told us what's what.


ICAD gaffer Elaine McDevitt chaired the discussions as to the implementation of Kate's work across the event, before assigning us all jobs to take-care-of-or-else and kicking us out into the cold Dublin night.


It was nail-biting, pen-sniffing stuff.

The exhibition will open on the evening of Thursday, November 6th at the Rothco Gallery, Pembroke Lane (off Baggott St, just before the canal) and will run to the next Thursday, November 13th.

U-turn

Hold up/hold on/hold on a second/hold on a minute/hold your horses/hold it right there!


After the visits, briefings and presentations for the Factory Space Gallery of Capel St, Yes Sir Alan Sugar belled Officeless at a ridiculously early hour this morning with the news that the Upstarts exhibition has 'only gone and been bloody moved somewhere else 'asn't it?!'

With or without Yes Sir Alan's backing, the new exhibition venue is the Rothco offices of Pembroke Row, Lower Baggott St. I hope, for their sakes, that the Advertising Upstarts were not set a brief for Bord Failte...



If anyone spots the hawaiian-shirted geezer hanging about on the night, keep away from him.

In other news hot off the press, the show concept and artwork has been selected from the work presented last week. Roll up, roll up... below is a sneak preview of Kate Brangan's project.


The design group meet again next Monday to organise the promotion of the event. Rumours that this meeting will involve nailing the doors of Rothco closed to prevent a further venue change are unconfirmed at this moment in time.