Our Biodiversity: Killorglin 2013 culminated in a Biodiversity Art Exhibition held in the Chapel on the Hill, Killorglin - and we are grateful to Eamon Crowley for letting us use this lovely space. All the students who had taken part in the school biodiversity talks and field trips came along to this venue in the days leading up to the exhibition and spent some time talking about what they had experienced for themselves of the local biodiversity. This process was facilitated by Mike Ahern, the visual artist who has been an integral part of the project. (He has previously visited the students in their schools to discuss their field trips and their reaction to what they had found in their local environment. He also gave some practical art sessions.) Work at the chapel space involved the students creating pieces that expressed feelings and interactions with the local environment that had been identified in earlier classroom activities.
Mostly the students worked in groups on a particular piece using a variety of natural materials such as leaves, stones, twigs and berries. Some of the larger pieces, such as the intricate wooden outdoor structures, were truly communal endeavours as they were worked on over several days by all the participating schools. Another such piece was the huge four-way bursting forth of leaves from an open book - paper comes from trees and this book returns to its shape as a tree, with tall branches reaching for the sky. Wonderful. Many of the pieces were whimsical and amusing. Two students, Ben Stack and Daire Kerin chose to record the sounds of singing birds and sounds of machinery and created interplay between the two – a thought provoking installation that was mounted in an empty bird cage, prompting us to think - where has the bird gone? Is nothing left but the digital imprint of its sweet voice? The sense on visiting the exhibition was that a lot of original thought and a lot of fun went into the works on display. A big thank you to all the students who took part in the project and also to their schools who supported and facilitated this project.
Mostly the students worked in groups on a particular piece using a variety of natural materials such as leaves, stones, twigs and berries. Some of the larger pieces, such as the intricate wooden outdoor structures, were truly communal endeavours as they were worked on over several days by all the participating schools. Another such piece was the huge four-way bursting forth of leaves from an open book - paper comes from trees and this book returns to its shape as a tree, with tall branches reaching for the sky. Wonderful. Many of the pieces were whimsical and amusing. Two students, Ben Stack and Daire Kerin chose to record the sounds of singing birds and sounds of machinery and created interplay between the two – a thought provoking installation that was mounted in an empty bird cage, prompting us to think - where has the bird gone? Is nothing left but the digital imprint of its sweet voice? The sense on visiting the exhibition was that a lot of original thought and a lot of fun went into the works on display. A big thank you to all the students who took part in the project and also to their schools who supported and facilitated this project.