“Instructions for better living” by Clare Sarah Gordon Breen
Clare & Sarah are recent graduates from NCAD, they live and work in Dublin. “Instructions for Better Living”, their show at the Art Tunnel is a very personal reflection of what it’s like to be a young artist living in Ireland. It is a political performance and installation, rejecting any kind of painting and sculptural carrier to convey their message. This is a simple, honest but cynical and depressing installation, consisting of 2 bands of writing along the perimeter fence of the Art Tunnel.
D’ YOU KNOW WHAT YOU SHOULD DO?
GET IT TOGETHER! BE YOUR OWN DISCIPLE! PAINT YOUR MASTERPIECE TODAY! MAKE A LIST OF YOUR LIFE! ABOVE ALL, CHANGE YOURSELF FIRST! BUT ABOVE ALL RUN TOWARDS YOUR FEAR! ABOVE ALL TRY BECOMING THE PROBLEM! STAY HUNGRY! BUT ABOVE ALL SMILE, IT MIGHT NEVER HAPPEN!
And That’s it.
The young artists do not show any work inside the actual exhibition space, 360 square metres left void…
Is this the missed opportunity? Showing their refusal to get it together, to paint their masterpiece? To be their own disciple?
It is ironic and defeatist that they are using the exhibition space to voice the pressure they feel. Instead of installing a big, booming, three dimensional sculpture, which, seen by thousands of commuters every day might have brought them a step onto that barely existing artist career ladder.
Instead, they have uploaded various highly cynical “Instructions for Better Living” on a website (http://cargocollective.com/instructionsforbetterliving) which they advertise on the Art Tunnel billboard. All uploads have a depressing undertone and quite obviously make fun of conventional ways of life.
The opening took place in “Wuff”, a local restaurant further down the Luas (Tram) line. 20 buskers lined the 200 meter stretch from the Art Tunnel to the restaurant, along Benburb street, where the videos are projected. Each busking unit played solitary tunes, creating a sound bamboozle on this dark stretch of road with hardly any pedestrians and only the tram rumbling through it.
The artists devised a play list of “motivational music” to accompany the videos, featuring titles such as: “It’s My Life” by Bon Jovi and "Simply the Best" by Tina Turner.
A link to the film produced by Clare Sarah Breen Gordon about their interactive, political art: instructionsforbetterliving/Instructions-for-Better-Living-Benburb-Street