O'Beirn, Aisling

English

Dialogical Interventions is a publication edited by Martin Krenn which evolves around the practice of dialogical art. Part 1 of the 168 pages book consists of essays by Suzana Milevska, Martin Krenn, Boris Groys and many more. Part 2 is comprised of interviews and student projects presented with collages of Krenn. O' Beirn is one of the artists interviewed for the book. In O' Beirn's interview she discuss socially engaged practice, the relationship between art and science, the role of failure in creativity in relation to a range of works such as ‘Another Day in Futile Battle Against the Second Law’ (2016), Boolean Logic’ (2015), ‘Structures Invisible to the Naked Eye’ 92011), Nicknames Map, Belfast’ (2014) and ‘Transforming Long Kesh/Maze (2016 – 2019 collaboration with M. Krenn).Martin Krenn's information on the book belowDialogical Interventions• Current theory on dialogical art • Introductory contributions by renowned art theorists, interviews on current key projects of socially committed art in the international field, and artist insertions on dialogical art projects Aims and ScopeHow can art change society? What aesthetic quality does dialog bring to art? What is the role of autonomy in dialogical art? Dialogical Interventionsinvestigates how dialogical art moves between the poles of social engagement, aesthetic autonomy and social change. Essays by international authors and interviews with socially and politically engaged artists and collectives focus on the relevance of dialogical and interventionist practices and their role in mediating new forms of knowledge and experience through art, thus opening up new prospects for this exciting arena of activity. Between the individual texts, artist insertions document social artistic practices on a visual level. Essays by: Mary Jane Jacob, Boris Groys, Suzana Milevska, Barbara Putz-Plecko, Martin Krenn Interviews with: Gerald Bast, Aisling O’Beirn, Gluklya, Renate Höllwart, Elke Smodics (trafo.K), Florian Malzacher, Alastair McLennan, Christina Varvia　(Forensic Architecture), Selda Asal Projects/Interviews by: Liliane-Sarah Kölbl, Cornelia Kolmann, Nora Licka, Nina Kugler, Lea Jank, Ariana Joya Mc Manus, Shobha Untersteiner, Tanja Happel, Rosie Benn, Marius Fischer, Johanna Folkmann, Eve Sherl(Martin Krenn 2019)<br/

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DIALOGICALINTERVENTIONSEditionAngewandteBook Series ofthe Universityof Applied ArtsViennaEDITED BYGERALD BAST,RECTORMARTIN KRENN, ED.DIALOGICALINTERVENTIONSArt in the Social RealmCONTENTSPREFACEMartin Krenn.................................................................................................................................. p. 10GERALD BAST in conversation with TANJA HAPPEL and MARTIN KRENNWhen Art Meets Crisis: The Angewandte and the Emergency Housing Effort in 2015-2016........................................................................... p. 14MARY JANE JACOBThe Social Value of Art: Drawing from Dewey...................................................................... p. 22BORIS GROYSOn Art Activism............................................................................................................................ p. 32SUZANA MILEVSKAParticipatory Institutional Critiqueand Other Critical Dialogues between Art and Society..................................................... p. 46BARBARA PUTZ-PLECKOArt and Communication Practices.......................................................................................... p. 58MARTIN KRENNSocial Art in Democracy............................................................................................................. p. 68Part ICONTENTSFences (Liliane-Sarah Kölbl, Cornelia Kolmann, Nora Licka)........................................ p. 84DIALOGICAL ART AND PRODUCTIVE FAILUREInterview with Aisling O’Beirn................................................................................................. p. 90Learning by Heart (Nina Kugler)........................................................................................... p. 98VISUAL FORMS ARE THE TOOL FOR TRANSFORMATIONInterview with Gluklya.............................................................................................................. p. 104Textile Stories (Lea Jank, Ariana Joya McManus, Shobha Untersteiner)................... p. 112HISTORY IN THE PRESENTInterview with Renate Höllwart & Elke Smodics from trafo.K......................................... p. 118To Get Rolling… (Tanja Happel)............................................................................................. p. 124THE QUESTION “IS THIS STILL ART?”HAS ACCOMPANIED ALL AVANT-GARDESInterview with Florian Malzacher.......................................................................................... p. 130How to Approach Soil (Rosie Benn, Marius Fischer, Johanna Folkmann)................ p. 136THE QUALITY OF RELATIONS ONE HAS WITH OTHERSIS AS MUCH ART AS MAKING A PAINTINGInterview with Alastair McLennan........................................................................................ p. 142EMERGENCY ARCHAEOLOGY & FORENSICS ON A HORIZONTAL LEVELInterview with Christina Varvia from Forensic Architecture.......................................... p. 148PROCESSES OF PARTICIPATIONInterview with Selda Asal......................................................................................................... p. 156BIOGRAPHIES.............................................................................................................................. p. 162PART II90INTERVIEW BYLiliane-Sarah Kölbl &Cornelia Kolmann withAisling O’BeirnDIALOGICAL ART ANDPRODUCTIVE FAILUREVIENNA/BELFAST, APRIL 2018Love Nov 1971 from Transforming Long Kesh/Maze, Belfast, 201891L-S.K., C.K.: We would like to know how you work as a socially and politically engaged art-ist based in Belfast? Do you have certain crite-ria for collaboration with artists and others? A.O’B.: As an artist, I am interested in the politics of place expressed through vernacular information as well as the relationship between art and science. With each work, I try to respond to the specific circumstances of making that work. In Transforming Long Kesh/Maze with Martin Krenn (Fig. 1) it took a long time building trust and making con-tacts with various community organizations and individ-uals. However, those very necessary conversations allowed us to design a dialogical and participatory project.L-S.K., C.K.: You mentioned trust, which is key for any dialogical art project. If people feel that the artist or the project isn’t trustworthy and reliable, it makes it almost impossible to work together. We believe that at the onset of any dialogical project you have to invest time in building trust. Why did you start mak-ing dialogical art; what was your special trigger?A.O’B.: I suppose it evolved organically. I also make sculptural objects to show in galleries, but I have always been interested in politics, working with people and art’s communicative potential. The way I work with people for each project is different, it really depends on context. In Structures Invisible to the Naked Eye (Fig. 2) and Anoth-er Day in Futile Battle Against the Second Law (Fig. 3) I worked with astronomers from Armagh Observatory in my attempt to understand various astronomical phenom-ena. The work came out of my attempts and frequent fail-ures at understanding scientific knowledge. By working with scientists I explore my “lack of knowledge,” driving endeavors to acquire knowledge. Artists experiment and scientists experiment. Artists speculate and so do scien- tists, even though their methods and outcomes might be very different. I am always trying to find things out through making. L-S.K., C.K: Yes, it must be that this organic approach in your art practice results in your working with many different people?92INTERVIEW WITH AISLING O’BEIRNAnother Day in Futile Battle Against the 2nd Law, solo show, Millennium Court Arts Centre, Portadown, curated by J. Baker, 201693DIALOGICAL ART AND PRODUCTIVE FAILUREStructures Invisible to the Naked Eye in“Secret Satellites, Belfast Exposed,” curated by K. Downey, 201194INTERVIEW WITH AISLING O’BEIRNA.O’B.: On one hand it’s very organic, but on the other hand there are particular ideas or circumstances I work with. It is only through working that I find out how to collaborate and problem-solve. If I knew exactly what I wanted beforehand, it would almost be pointless to try.L-S.K., C.K: Earlier you mentioned what knowledge means to you. Is it something po-litical or something very powerful or… ?A.O’B.: This is a very interesting question. What is the nature of knowledge? I see knowledge as very politically linked to power. Who defines knowledge, what can be classified as knowledge, how is it used or instrumental-ized, and who are its custodians? A lot of the work I did with vernacular knowledge about Belfast – like gathering and redistributing place nicknames that don’t appear on maps, or collecting hand-drawn maps and urban myths that people produce through experience – deals with these themes. Some Things About Belfast (Or So I’m Told) is a good example (Fig. 4).L-S.K., C.K: To us, your work is very political, espe-cially the prison project with Martin. It seems that you have a certain way of working – a very dialogi-cal way because you give people who normally don’t have a voice the opportunity to use their voice. How do you think about your work; do you think it is po-litically relevant and is this important to you?A.O’B.: I would say any artwork is political; it is hard to avoid things being political. Anything that contributes in any way by allowing political debate to move forward is a good thing. If our project contributes to debate or discus-sion, we obviously would see that as a positive result.L-S.K., C.K: Yeah, it sounds logical that it is political on the deeper level: one must have a closer look. The political aspect is not that obvious on first viewing, but still very powerful in its sensitivity and deepness. Do you think there is a certain aim or duty that art has for society?A.O’B.: I think it varies from artist to artist. For me, art provides an opportunity to engage in societal and political debate. It is not something separate; it can’t exist apart. Art can become a vehicle for discussing social change, 95DIALOGICAL ART AND PRODUCTIVE FAILUREproviding possibilities of communication, opening up dialogues with people. It has the potential to instigate change.L-S.K., C.K: Exactly, art is great for opening up a topic. It creates another language, another space where you can talk about issues, and once everyone involved feels safe, you can take initial steps to instigate change. The special thing about art is that it can transmit ideas across societal boundaries, making them understandable and accessible to different people.It would be interesting for us to hear your perspective on our project in Belfast. It was important that we saw what the city offered. We really wanted to work with its “mood,” so we started walking around for hours and hours, collecting im-pressions, thoughts, pictures, sounds. We put these things together, trying to find their essence. What we did – with the fences (recording the sound of hitting them as we went by), the dialogical and playful interactions with signs’ wording, the performances in the gallery – gave us a really intense connection to the town and some of its residents. We did not expect that at first. We tried to be very sensitive, but be-cause of the noisy audio, the sound collage got very intense.A.O’B.: Your project was great! It was very constructive and sensitive to the city. I really liked how you played the railings, which actually form barriers in the city. You em-ployed them as a musical instrument. It was poetic, turning something politically aversive into something poetic. You noticed nuances – the different fences and signs, they all manifest forms of political control, and you picked up on things. When you live in Belfast and walk the same streets daily, you don’t tend to see such things, you are on autopilot.L-S.K., C.K: Indeed, we tried to find a way of ex- ploring the city (as outsiders), of turning some-thing political into something poetic, to make it less heavy. Luckily it worked. But we were not sure it would... What does the notion of failure mean to you, for yourself or for your projects or in society?A.O’B.: Failure is almost inevitable. With art, there might be micro-failures within projects, or sometimes it might be the ultimate failure of a whole project, but it can 96INTERVIEW WITH AISLING O’BEIRNactually be something informative and used productive-ly. Failure can act as a political metaphor. If you reach a dangerous tipping point, it can alert people to do some-thing positive. So, I try, with illogical artworks, to explore the inevitability of failure. Collapse… and then you start again, you try to make it work and it collapses again… (as in the piece Boolean Logic, Fig. 5). The unstable, salvaged timbers allow materials to articulate something about failure in relation to political instability.L-S.K., C.K: Would you say that the mo-ment of failure, not only in artwork but in society, has a productive aspect?A.O’B.: Well, it doesn’t feel very productive at the time (all three laugh), but on the other hand, maybe something can be harnessed from failure if political alarm bells go off. It can make people much more politically active and alert. We see this now in the grand political arena, with the growth of anti-fascist movements across the world in response to the alarming rise of the far right.The recent strikes in UK universities give a more local-ized personal example, being as much about the failure of neoliberalism and of the marketization of education as about pensions. On this micro-stage, new alliances and camaraderie between staff and students were forged. Besides the obvious stress of being on strike, it became a vehicle for seeing and discussing broader issues, and even inspiring new artworks. So in this sense confronting failure was very productive.PART 2 – PRACTICES97Nicknames Map, Belfast in “Mapping Alternative Ulster,” Ulster Museum, Belfast, cu-rated by G. Carr, May 2014Boolean Logic in “Boolean Expressions: Contemporary Art and Mathematical Data,” Glucksman Gallery, UCC, Cork, curated by F. Kearney, July 2015165BIOGRAPHIESextensively in Eastern and Western Europe, Asia, North America and Canada, present-ing “Actuations” (performance/installations). FLORIAN MALZACHER  is an independent performing arts curator. Among his publi-cations are Truth Is Concrete: A Handbook on Artistic Strategies in Real Politics (2014), Not Just a Mirror: Looking for the Political Theatre of Today (2015), The Silent University: Towards a Transversal Pedagogy (2016), and Empty Stages, Crowded Flats: Performativ-ity as Curatorial Strategy (2017). ARIANA JOYA McMANUS  was born in Vienna in 1996. She has studied in Ireland, worked as a social volunteer and done an internship in jewelry design.  She now studies art education at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Her work ranges from painting to mixed media installation and sculpture, often addressing intimate topics such as family or personal conflict resolution.  SUZANA MILEVSKA  is a visual culture theorist and curator. Her theoretical and cura-torial interests include postcolonial critique of the hegemonic power regimes of rep-resentation, gender theory and feminism as well as participatory, collaborative and re-search-based art practices. Currently she is Principal Investigator at the Politecnico di Milano (TRACES, Horizon 2020). From 2013 to 2015 she was the Endowed Professor for Central and South Eastern European Art Histories at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, where she also taught at the Visual Culture Unit of the Technical University. Milevska was Fulbright Senior Research Scholar at the Library of Congress (2004). In 2012, Mile-vska won the Igor Zabel Award for Culture and Theory. AISLING O’BEIRN  born 1968, is an artist based in Belfast and Associate Lecturer in Sculpture at Ulster University. Her work is interdisciplinary and explores the politics of place, uncovering tensions between disparate forms of official and unofficial informa-tion. She examines space and place as physical structures and political entities, often using and animating forms derived from the observed and theoretical structures of con-temporary astronomy and physics. Her work takes various forms, including installation, sculpture, animation and site-specific projects. NATALIA PERSHINA-YAKIMANSKAYA  (artist name Gluklya) was born in St. Petersburg (1969) and lives and works in Amsterdam. Considered one of the pioneers of Russian performance, she co-founded the artist collective Factory of Found Clothes (FFC), which uses conceptualized clothes as a tool for building a connection between art and every-day life, and the Chto delat, of which she has been an active member since 2003. In 2012, the FFC was reformulated as the Utopian Unemployment Union, a participatory project uniting art, social science and progressive pedagogy. Gluklya’s work Clothes for 

Dialogical Art and Productive Failure:Interview with Aisling O' Beirn in Dialogical Interventions

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Dialogical Art and Productive Failure:Interview with Aisling O' Beirn in Dialogical Interventions

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