Revisions
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| Artist Name(s) | Julie Merriman |
| Artwork title | Revisions |
| Context/Background | Revisions was commissioned by Dublin City Council as part of the Dublin City Public Art Programme – Strand 2 – Interaction with the City, under the Per Cent for Art Scheme with funding from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government with the support of Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane. |
| Description | Revisions is a year-long public art commission by Julie Merriman. During this time Merriman engaged with staff in the Housing, Architects, Drainage, Roads and Engineering Departments who draw and use drawings as part their everyday work. Merriman’s practice is focused on drawing and exploring its language and functions. In particular, she is interested in consulting archives as source material to consider the conventions of drawing used in construction and design, disrupting their functionality, and highlighting the aesthetic character contained within them. Whilst her time with Dublin City Council allowed her to develop existing areas of interest and artistic focus, Merriman has also developed new methods of creating work. After reviewing the Council’s archives she began using typewriter carbon film to produce her drawings. Pinning the film to her working surface, it acted as a filter through which drawings were produced, created ‘slippages’ and introduced the intrigue of the unknown to the process. The commission culminated in a public display of the work in the Hugh Lane Gallery from 5 January until 10 April. A fully illustrated publication of the work, along with two contextualising essays by Dr Stephanie Straine and Marianne O’ Kane Boal was also produced to accompany the exhibition. |
| Mediation | Julie Merriman, Artist; Ruairí Ó CuÍv – Curator and Public Art Manager, Publication Editor; Dr Stephanie Strain and Marianne O’ Kane Boal–commissioned essays; Barbara Dawson, Director in The Hugh Lane; Katy Fitzpatrick, Education Curator, The Hugh Lane, Engagement Programme; Logan Sisley, Curator, The Hugh Lane; Michael Dempsey, Curator The Hugh Lane; Liz Coman – Asst. Arts Officer & Visual Arts Education; Peter Maybury, Publication Designer; Photography, Denis Mortell and Ros Kavanagh; Liv Laumenech -promotion & support. |
| Biographies | Ruairí Ó Cuív is an independent curator and arts consultant who is working as Public Art Manager for Dublin City Council. Julie Merriman lives and works in Dublin. Her practice is centered in the history and meaning of visual marks, in the lexis used to visually describe structure, place, concept and theory. Working from archival materials she researches histories, and through conversational exchange explores the conventions of various drawing languages. Her investigations are positioned in the historic and contemporary aspects of areas such as; architecture, engineering, science, cartography and mathematics and in how drawing works in these contexts as a technology to impart specific information. However the focus of her work is on the changes that are perceived when her creative process interrupts the functionality of these visual languages, and in the potentials of new readings to emerge. Process is central to this work which in turn is an open-ended enquiry. The works are made by filtering arrangements of marks through carbon paper or typewriter carbon film onto a drawing support. She is interested in the physicality and materiality of this process, in its capabilities and limitations and in the slippages that can occur. There is an uncertainty to the outcome, but also an expectation and this is where she is interested in positioning her drawing practice. |
| Commission Type | Local Authority |
| Commissioner Name | Dublin City Council |
| Commissioning process | Open submission competition |
| Project commission dates | March 1, 2013 - April 30, 2016 |
| Artform | Visual Arts,Architecture |
| Funded By | Dublin City Council |
| Percent for art | Yes |
| Budget Range | 10000 - 30000 euro |
| Project commission start date | 01/03/2013 |
| Project commission end date | 30/04/2016 |
| Location | Dublin City Council Departments |
| County | Dublin |
| Town | Dublin |
| Content contributor(s) | Julie Merriman, Artist, Ruairí Ó Cuív –Curator and Public Art Manager |
| Public engagement | The commission was featured in The Irish Times and in a number of popular art forums. Lyric Fm broadcast a Culture File audio feature: The display of the work in The Hugh Lane was accompanied by an extensive public engagement programme that ranged from artist’s talks and tours, to children and elderly people’s workshops. http://www.hughlane.ie/current/1423-julie-merriman-revisions |