Beggs, Neal

Shipsides, Dan

English

Wabash Cannonball: Granite, Quartz, Iron. Impact Study / Tall Tale of the Mourne MountainsA pata-perceptual exploration of materiality and culture.Shipsides and Beggs Projects 2019Performance; spoken word, image, audio and video.Approx 70 min.Audio visual, spoken word performance in the T5 Field Cinema format at Bouy Park, Belfast commissioned by Bbeyond in 2019 as part of the Citizengage programme: International Performance Art Festival, Feb 21st, 2019 WABASH CANNONBALL video edits:Video documentation edited into new video works:This gives a good sense of the performance but works better as four short stand-alone edited artworks. The live material has been edited with rehearsal material and full images to generate a coherency that mitigates the sound issue with recording a live performance.Credits: Live video and audio footage: BbeyondAll other footage, audio and editing: Shipsides and Beggs Projects or as listed or open source /public domain.Part 1: Impact Study / Tall Tale. 13.08minPart 2: Granite Intrusions. 24.41minPart 3: Crystal Fallout. 18.15minPart 4: Gravity Accounts. 14.13minThe starting point for the exhibition is a rock-climbing route in the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland called the Wabash Cannonball. The route is rarely climbed but is a classic of Irish climbing – 80 meters of steep, hard granite climbing in the beautiful and remote setting of Slieve Beg near to the notorious gully of The Devils Coach Road. It was first climbed and named by the noted Belfast climber Calvin Torrans in 1974, who had and has a passion for the politicised folk music scene of the 1960’s to which the Wabash Cannonball connects as the title of an American folk song.The nomenclature of this route and its setting sets us on a journey from Irish landscape and mythology to and through American Folk tradition and music, particularly of the Appalachian Mountain areas, and the history, politics and culture of the American railroad expansion and then back to the cultural and topographical landscape of the Mourne Mountains (which in turn mark the eastern end of the UK / ROI border).The narrative of the performance from here then explores other links and material connections reflecting a twisting and, at times, strange journey through techniques of pata-perception lateral practice (Shipsides 2011) and makes up four distinct sections which deal with different materials found or encountered in the Mourne Mountains

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12/09/2019 Shipsides and Beggs - WABASH CANNONBALL - Granite, Quartz, Iron.www.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/Wabash.html 1/5Shipsides	and	Beggs	Projects	-	WABASH	CANNONBALL	-	Granite,	Quartz,	Iron.					HomeCV	&	contactTextsBibliographyProjects12/09/2019 Shipsides and Beggs - WABASH CANNONBALL - Granite, Quartz, Iron.www.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/Wabash.html 2/5Wabash	Cannonball:	Granite,	Quartz,	Iron.	Impact	Study	/	Tall	Tale	of	the	Mourne	MountainsA	pata-perceptual	exploration	of	materiality	and	culture.Shipsides	and	Beggs	Projects	2019Performance;	spoken	word,	image,	audio	and	video.Approx	70	min.Audio	visual,	spoken	word	performance	in	the	T5	Field	Cinema	format	at	Bouy	Park,	Belfastcommissioned	by	Bbeyond	in	2019	as	part	of	the	Citizengage	programme:	International	PerformanceArt	Festival,	Feb	21st,	2019	WABASH	CANNONBALL	video	edits:Video	documentation	edited	into	new	video	works:This	gives	a	good	sense	of	the	performance	but	works	better	as	four	short	stand-alone	editedartworks.	The	live	material	has	been	edited	with	rehearsal	material	and	full	images	to	generate	acoherency	that	mitigates	the	sound	issue	with	recording	a	live	performance.Credits:	Live	video	and	audio	footage:	BbeyondAll	other	footage,	audio	and	editing:	Shipsides	and	Beggs	Projects	or	as	listed	or	open	source	/publicdomain.Part	1:	Impact	Study	/	Tall	Tale.	13.08minPart	2:	Granite	Intrusions.	24.41minPart	3:	Crystal	Fallout.	18.15minPart	4:	Gravity	Accounts.	14.13minThe	starting	point	for	the	exhibition	is	a	rock-climbing	route	in	the	Mourne	Mountains	in	NorthernIreland	called	the	Wabash	Cannonball.	The	route	is	rarely	climbed	but	is	a	classic	of	Irish	climbing	–80	meters	of	steep,	hard	granite	climbing	in	the	beautiful	and	remote	setting	of	Slieve	Beg	near	tothe	notorious	gully	of	The	Devils	Coach	Road.	It	was	first	climbed	and	named	by	the	noted	Belfastclimber	Calvin	Torrans	in	1974,	who	had	and	has	a	passion	for	the	politicised	folk	music	scene	of	the1960’s	to	which	the	Wabash	Cannonball	connects	as	the	title	of	an	American	folk	song.The	nomenclature	of	this	route	and	its	setting	sets	us	on	a	journey	from	Irish	landscape	andmythology	to	and	through	American	Folk	tradition	and	music,	particularly	of	the	AppalachianMountain	areas,	and	the	history,	politics	and	culture	of	the	American	railroad	expansion	and	thenback	to	the	cultural	and	topographical	landscape	of	the	Mourne	Mountains	(which	in	turn	mark	theeastern	end	of	the	UK	/	ROI	border).The	narrative	of	the	performance	from	here	then	explores	other	links	and	material	connectionsreflecting	a	twisting	and,	at	times,	strange	journey	through	techniques	of	pata-perception	lateralpractice	(Shipsides	2011)	and	makes	up	four	distinct	sections	which	deal	with	different	materialsfound	or	encountered	in	the	Mourne	Mountains.	WABASH	CANNONBALL:	Impact	Study	/	Tall	Tale:Edit	Part	1.12/09/2019 Shipsides and Beggs - WABASH CANNONBALL - Granite, Quartz, Iron.www.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/Wabash.html 3/5HD	video.	13.08minhttps://vimeo.com/359306673	Section	one,	Impact	Study	/	Tall	Tale,	is	an	introductory	section	begins	by	embracing	the	T5	FieldCinema	framework	as	a	lineage	of	the	Gospel	Wagon	with	a	description	of	its	format	as	an	ImpactStudy	/	Tall	Tale,	with	both	genres	described	and	explored.	The	Tall	Tale	genre	allows	us	tounderstand	cultural	themes	and	memes	as	carrying	important	geographical	and	topologicalknowledge.	This	section	then	lays	out	the	geographic,	political	and	mineralogical	context	of	this	areawhich	includes	recent	news	of	government	feasibility	plans	for	GDF	(Geological	Disposal	Facility)	fordumping	nuclear	waste	from	the	UK’s	nuclear	industry,	no	part	of	which	is	located	in	NorthernIreland.	WABASH	CANNONBALL:	Granite	Intrusions:	Edit	Part	2.HD	video.	25.41minhttps://vimeo.com/359309630	The	second	section	Granite	Intrusions,	sets	out	to	explore	the	nomenclature	of	Calvin	Torran’s	rockclimb	and	its	geographical	/	topological	roots.	It	takes	us	to	American	folk	traditions	exploring	themyth	and	culture	of	the	hobo	and	identifies	the	Wabash	Cannonball	as	a	coded	song	about	the	labour13:0825:4112/09/2019 Shipsides and Beggs - WABASH CANNONBALL - Granite, Quartz, Iron.www.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/Wabash.html 4/5conditions	of	migrant	workers	in	late	18th	to	mid	19th	Century	America	(the	song	is	about	a	mythicaltrain	which	collects	the	souls	of	dead	hobos).	Many	of	these	migrant	workers	were	Irish	immigrantswho	had	fled	the	Famine	of	the	mid	18th	Century	and	so	a	key	link	is	made	here	with	a	strongempathy	towards	social	and	labour	rights	(Utah	Philips	an	anarchist	labourer	and	musician	hasdocumented	such	coded	folk	songs),	and	connect	with	contemporary	labour	dynamics	and	wildernessmyths	of	Silicon	Valley	venturism.	The	coded	train	then	appears	as	a	harbinger	of	death,	connectingwith	the	Gospel	Wagon,	the	Undergound	Railroad	and	the	Cóiste	Bodhar	(Coach-a-Bower)	Irish	mythof	the	death	coach.	The	death	coach	motif	bringing	us	right	back	to	the	Devils’	Coach	road	in	theMourne	Mountains	and	the	nomenclature	of	Torran’s	climbing	route	and	other	routes	on	Slieve	Beg.	WABASH	CANNONBALL:	Crystal	Fallout:	Edit	Part	3.HD	video.	18.15minhttps://vimeo.com/359313483	The	third	section,	Crystal	Fallout,	further	mines	the	geology	of	the	Mournes	and	its	rock	climbingprominence,	grounding	it	with	the	geological	make-up	of	granite	and	a	large	smoky	quartz	crystalfound	in	the	Mournes	by	noted	climber	Ricky	Bell.	Exploring	unorthodox	ideas	and	beliefs	found	incrystology,	combining	with	creative	fiction	(Flann	O’Brien)	and	some	basic	this	section	re-contextualises	significant	climbing	footage	of	Ricky	Bell	using	silicone	dioxide	(glass	and	quartz)	aspata-perceptual	filters.	Footage	of	extreme	climbs	Mushroom	Boyz	(E7	6a)	and	Crystal	Methods	(E86c)	is	utilised	to	explore	the	possibilities	of	protection	in	climbing.	WABASH	CANNONBALL:	Gravity	Account:Edit	Part	4.HD	video.	14.13minhttps://vimeo.com/35931747118:1612/09/2019 Shipsides and Beggs - WABASH CANNONBALL - Granite, Quartz, Iron.www.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/Wabash.html 5/5	The	fourth	and	final	section	Gravity	Account,	begins	with	a	Shummit	interlude	and	then	returns	to	thegranite	block	as	a	ballistic	missile	and	sees	it	weaponised	in	the	mythological,	tall	tale	where	FionnMac	Cumhaill	slayed	the	Ice	Giant	by	hurling	the	Cloughmore	Stone	from	across	Carlingford	Lough(which	is	also	the	UK/ROI	border)	The	Cloughmore	Stone	is	a	precedent	to	the	WW2	era	with	the	USNavy	using	the	southern	Mourne	Mountains	as	an	artillery	firing	range	where	they	targeted	certaingranite	outcrops	as	enemy	ships	for	target	practice.	A	large	piece	of	iron	exploded	shell	fragment,found	in	the	boulder	field	debris,	presents	the	material	basis	for	this	section	which	then	links	to	theIron	Way	(Via	Ferrata)	WW1	mining	warfare	in	the	Dolomites	which	forms	a	closing	to	performancewith	a	new	rendition	of	the	Shipsides	and	Beggs	song	Frontier	Soldier.	A	post	script	celebrates	theefforts	and	tenacity	of	environmental	activist	Cormac	McAleer	ongoing	battle	against	Dalradian’s	(aCanadian	company)	environmentally	disastrous	plans	for	goldmining	in	the	Sperrin	Mountains.	He	is	a	contemporary	Finn	McCool...The	work	is	an	open-work	and	will	be	re-developed	and	re-performed	to	explore	specific	themes	orresearch	in	different	contexts	and	directions	–	each	time	generating	new	material	for	furtherresearch.				14:14

WABASH CANNONBALL - Granite, Quartz, Iron

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WABASH CANNONBALL - Granite, Quartz, Iron

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