workshop at Live Art Ireland

In the week of June 10th, I will lead a two-day workshop for Live Art Ireland. Participants will be in residence at Milford House, and will have spent the previous week working with Marilyn Arsem. We will work with ideas of trace, score, notation and mapping to look at how performance endures or is lost, what we hold onto, and what can be passed on or let go. Using drawing, actions, sharing and witnessing, we will make a body of performance writing.

Considering Time in Performance, Saturday 15th June, 12.00 to 21.00hrs.

There will be a sharing and showing of work by participants at Live Art Ireland on Saturday 15th June. The artist participants are: Ann Conmy, Carlos Tejo, Georgia Lale, Alisa Alho, Marianne Marcote, Natalie Rise, Nicole Panneton, Rob La Frenais, Silke Michels, and Deej Fabyc.

Tickets are available on a Pay What You Choose basis via Eventbrite HERE

‘grass’ residency at Live Art Ireland

From October 1st I will be spending three weeks on a residency at Milford House, the home of Live Art Ireland. The theme for this year’s artist residencies is ‘grass’ and my proposal is to reflect on and develop some new performance material from my relationship with the dairy industry.

Proposal: Having grown up on a dairy farm in West Limerick and now living in Devon, I am familiar with landscapes prioritising a version of grassland, seeking an almost monoculture of grass species, driven by additives to deliver bulk. Dairy cows are exploited to maximise milk production, for consumer products seen as essential. Culturally this industry has been promoted by the Irish State, been part of the story we tell of ourselves to others. Can I find a chink within this edifice to account for the other-than-human, acknowledging species contributing to this landscape system of production and consumption. I want to look at the network of small creameries and cooperatives that developed in the early 20th Century across rural Ireland, and use these as a starting place. I want to look at language and rhythms of this industry, to consider my place within it, and develop text and actions in response.

Some work in progress images and text are up on the Live Art Ireland website now: https://www.live-art.ie/2023/10/05/mark-leahy/