Talk Real Fine, Just Like a Lady - Fringe @ The Peacock Theatre 19 - 23 September
In particular, the State recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without
which the common good cannot be achieved.
Bunreacht na hÉireann, Article 41.2.1
Teresa Deevy, the mid twentieth century playwright, is under going a process of rediscovery in the aftermath of the Waking the Feminist enlightenment. Deevy was also deaf. Within the oeuvre of her work two plays in particular offer stark examinations of the situation of women in Ireland in the 1930s: The King of Spain’s Daughter, 1935 and Katie Roche, 1936. It is no coincidence these works are now place side by side in the national theatre. These plays trouble the concept of the ideal Irish Woman as laid out in De Valera's 1937 Constitution. A constitution that enshrined the catholic teaching on family, marriage and the place of woman, implicitly proposing to imprison women in the narrowly prescribed private and familial role. These plays lay bare the suffocating lack of choices in Irish woman's lives, pre-empting the contemporary era's agitation on social justice issues.
Taking Deevy’s deafness as our ignition point and appropriating The King of Spain's Daughter as Talk Real Fine, Just Like a Lady, we are contextualises Deevy's work within the political, historical and cultural perspectives of the contemporary Irish Deaf community. Irish Sign language has been at the heart of our creative process. Sign is a language in motion, a form of communication that manifests on the body. ISL is a language in the process of emerging out of a prolonged period of oppression and one that still has no legal recognition in this state.
For the Deaf community in Ireland in the 1930s Deaf girls were institutionalised in the school for deaf girls. The sexes were stringently segregated and any fraternisation frowned upon by their religious carers. This led to what has been described by American Linguist Barbara Le Masters as the most 'distinctively gendered vocabulary developing'. Deaf women and Deaf men used different signs for the same concept. This unique vocabulary was only used amongst woman, when these woman signed with men they adapted their vocabulary to 'men's' signs. We use women’s signs throughout our production. It is a female space, in language, gesture and embodiment that you enter.
In titling this work we reached out the Nina Simone's blistering civil rights anthem, Mississippi goddamn. We hope coming from the specifics of the situation of Deaf people's life's Talk Real Fine, Just Like a Lady will also serve as analogous to any quest for justice, recognition, independence and equality. Indeed while our work foregrounds a female space and the politics of linguistics it also rejoices in sound. Not the sound making that formulates words but those of another deaf artist; Beethoven and in stepping back and reaching forward contemporary composer Aine Fay's score derives from fragments of the final movement of Beethoven's 7th Sypmhony. Fay has explored the infinite malleability of sound echoing our methodology of distilling ideas to their kernel. Our shape shifting of Deevy's play is echoed in Fay's shape shifting of Beethoven's.
In each layer of this work I am attempting to eschew the verbal, illuminate the embodied and foreground the visual. You are reading this after you've experienced the work. We are shape-shifting a literary theatre work and in so doing shining a spotlight on an alternative method of communicating through my live art practice, the alternative language of ISL and the profoundly skilled and 'othered' bodies of Dublin Theatre of the Deaf performers. As Nina has said 'can you see it, can you feel it, it's all in the air', breath deep.
Amanda Coogan, September 2017
which the common good cannot be achieved.
Bunreacht na hÉireann, Article 41.2.1
Teresa Deevy, the mid twentieth century playwright, is under going a process of rediscovery in the aftermath of the Waking the Feminist enlightenment. Deevy was also deaf. Within the oeuvre of her work two plays in particular offer stark examinations of the situation of women in Ireland in the 1930s: The King of Spain’s Daughter, 1935 and Katie Roche, 1936. It is no coincidence these works are now place side by side in the national theatre. These plays trouble the concept of the ideal Irish Woman as laid out in De Valera's 1937 Constitution. A constitution that enshrined the catholic teaching on family, marriage and the place of woman, implicitly proposing to imprison women in the narrowly prescribed private and familial role. These plays lay bare the suffocating lack of choices in Irish woman's lives, pre-empting the contemporary era's agitation on social justice issues.
Taking Deevy’s deafness as our ignition point and appropriating The King of Spain's Daughter as Talk Real Fine, Just Like a Lady, we are contextualises Deevy's work within the political, historical and cultural perspectives of the contemporary Irish Deaf community. Irish Sign language has been at the heart of our creative process. Sign is a language in motion, a form of communication that manifests on the body. ISL is a language in the process of emerging out of a prolonged period of oppression and one that still has no legal recognition in this state.
For the Deaf community in Ireland in the 1930s Deaf girls were institutionalised in the school for deaf girls. The sexes were stringently segregated and any fraternisation frowned upon by their religious carers. This led to what has been described by American Linguist Barbara Le Masters as the most 'distinctively gendered vocabulary developing'. Deaf women and Deaf men used different signs for the same concept. This unique vocabulary was only used amongst woman, when these woman signed with men they adapted their vocabulary to 'men's' signs. We use women’s signs throughout our production. It is a female space, in language, gesture and embodiment that you enter.
In titling this work we reached out the Nina Simone's blistering civil rights anthem, Mississippi goddamn. We hope coming from the specifics of the situation of Deaf people's life's Talk Real Fine, Just Like a Lady will also serve as analogous to any quest for justice, recognition, independence and equality. Indeed while our work foregrounds a female space and the politics of linguistics it also rejoices in sound. Not the sound making that formulates words but those of another deaf artist; Beethoven and in stepping back and reaching forward contemporary composer Aine Fay's score derives from fragments of the final movement of Beethoven's 7th Sypmhony. Fay has explored the infinite malleability of sound echoing our methodology of distilling ideas to their kernel. Our shape shifting of Deevy's play is echoed in Fay's shape shifting of Beethoven's.
In each layer of this work I am attempting to eschew the verbal, illuminate the embodied and foreground the visual. You are reading this after you've experienced the work. We are shape-shifting a literary theatre work and in so doing shining a spotlight on an alternative method of communicating through my live art practice, the alternative language of ISL and the profoundly skilled and 'othered' bodies of Dublin Theatre of the Deaf performers. As Nina has said 'can you see it, can you feel it, it's all in the air', breath deep.
Amanda Coogan, September 2017
COWARDS,
a new live performance for LIVE COLLISION
Saturday 22 April
12-6pm, The Project Arts Centre, Dublin
performers: Amanda Coogan, Roisin Owens, Natasha Carlin, Tara Carroll, Lisa Freeman and Niamh Cooney.
with soundscape by Aine Fay
http://www.livecollision.com/portfolio/cowards/
12-6pm, The Project Arts Centre, Dublin
performers: Amanda Coogan, Roisin Owens, Natasha Carlin, Tara Carroll, Lisa Freeman and Niamh Cooney.
with soundscape by Aine Fay
http://www.livecollision.com/portfolio/cowards/
Paddy Cahill's new feature film
Amanda Coogan - Long Now
will premier at the Dublin Film Festival
18 February 2017
https://vimeo.com/201297643
Amanda Coogan - Long Now
will premier at the Dublin Film Festival
18 February 2017
https://vimeo.com/201297643
A live exhibition of Coogan's work encompassing installation, performances, and Moving Image footage from Paddy Cahill, at Limerick City Gallery of Art.
The final Live Performances of 'I'll sing you a song from around the town' suite of works will be on the 26th, 27th, and 28th January 2017.
The final Live Performances of 'I'll sing you a song from around the town' suite of works will be on the 26th, 27th, and 28th January 2017.
2116:Forecast of the Next Century
The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University. The live performance of Rock, whats the matter with you Rock, was on November 5, 2016.
The exhibition runs until April 2, 2017 with moving image footage of this newly commissioned live performance made for the Broad.
The exhibition runs until April 2, 2017 with moving image footage of this newly commissioned live performance made for the Broad.
RUN TO THE ROCK
20th - 22nd October,
The MAC, Belfast
WORLD PREMIERE
Run to the Rock is a new multi-media work created by critically acclaimed visual and performance artist Amanda Coogan, in collaboration with Deaf communities in Northern Ireland and South Africa.
Using a combination of sign language, performance, digital sound and live Instagram streaming, Run to the Rock will explore key themes in Shakespeare’s texts and open up their continuing political relevance and accessibility for global audiences. Individual performers from both Northern Ireland and South Africa will engage with sections of different Shakespearean plays, which will be woven together into a performance that empowers both participants and audiences to provide a fresh new look at Shakespeare’s works. Run to the Rock is a mediation on Shakespeare inspired by the Robben Island Bible, a copy of the ‘Complete Works of William Shakespeare’ which was smuggled among, and annotated by, the single cell prisoners of the South African prison during the period of Nelson Mandela’s incarceration.
Co-commissioned by British Council and Belfast International Arts Festival as part of Shakespeare Lives 2016.
Generously informed by collaborators Educape and Jazz Hands, based in South Africa.
20th - 22nd October,
The MAC, Belfast
WORLD PREMIERE
Run to the Rock is a new multi-media work created by critically acclaimed visual and performance artist Amanda Coogan, in collaboration with Deaf communities in Northern Ireland and South Africa.
Using a combination of sign language, performance, digital sound and live Instagram streaming, Run to the Rock will explore key themes in Shakespeare’s texts and open up their continuing political relevance and accessibility for global audiences. Individual performers from both Northern Ireland and South Africa will engage with sections of different Shakespearean plays, which will be woven together into a performance that empowers both participants and audiences to provide a fresh new look at Shakespeare’s works. Run to the Rock is a mediation on Shakespeare inspired by the Robben Island Bible, a copy of the ‘Complete Works of William Shakespeare’ which was smuggled among, and annotated by, the single cell prisoners of the South African prison during the period of Nelson Mandela’s incarceration.
Co-commissioned by British Council and Belfast International Arts Festival as part of Shakespeare Lives 2016.
Generously informed by collaborators Educape and Jazz Hands, based in South Africa.
The Passing, Niemeyer Centre Aviles, 22 May 2016
Carnage Visors at RUA RED
Exhibition 7 March - 9 April
NEIL CARROLL, AMANDA COOGAN, MARTIN HEALY,
JUNTAE T.J. HWANG, NEVAN LAHART, AMANDA RICE,
SONIA SHIEL, MARCEL VIDAL, RICHARD T. WALKER .
Curated by Paul McAree
Exhibition 7 March - 9 April
NEIL CARROLL, AMANDA COOGAN, MARTIN HEALY,
JUNTAE T.J. HWANG, NEVAN LAHART, AMANDA RICE,
SONIA SHIEL, MARCEL VIDAL, RICHARD T. WALKER .
Curated by Paul McAree
I'll sing you a song from around the town, a live exhibition
Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin - 3. September - 18 October
To Camera,
an exhibition of works that give evidence of the artist's. Action, intervention and performance.
Delighted to be showing photographs alongside Lorraine Burrell, Tony Hill, Tom Lovelace, Moirai McIver, Maria Platero, Manuel Vason and Ai Wei Wei.
Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
goldenthreadgallery.co.uk
4.6.2015 - 25.7.2015
an exhibition of works that give evidence of the artist's. Action, intervention and performance.
Delighted to be showing photographs alongside Lorraine Burrell, Tony Hill, Tom Lovelace, Moirai McIver, Maria Platero, Manuel Vason and Ai Wei Wei.
Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
goldenthreadgallery.co.uk
4.6.2015 - 25.7.2015
Silent Dinner
Saturday / Feb 7 / 15
1:00 pm - 10:00 pm
1115 Queen Street West, Toronto
Performance: 1pm - 9pm (FREE)
Post-performance Q&A: 9pm - 10pm (FREE)
ASL Interpretation provided during Q&A
With Amanda Coogan, Shannon Cochrane, H. Mary Balint,
Alexanderose Dayment, Anselmo Desousa, Keli Safia Maksud,
Mikiki, Ahmed Muslimani, Laura Nanni, Christopher Welsh,
Sage Willow and others.
You Told Me to Wash and Clean My Ears
@ Project Arts Centre for Dublin Fringe Festival
Many thanks to Bryan O'Brien of the Irish Times for a beautiful preview video,
http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/you-told-me-to-wash-and-clean-my-ears-1.1930762
@ Project Arts Centre for Dublin Fringe Festival
Many thanks to Bryan O'Brien of the Irish Times for a beautiful preview video,
http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/you-told-me-to-wash-and-clean-my-ears-1.1930762
13 WOMEN
A new moving image work made in collaboration with Paddy Cahill with sound composition by Mike Glennon.
is currently being shown at
Undisclosed Territory 8
Studio Plesungan, Indonesia-26-31 August 2014
Corpus
Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris-From 11 September 2014
Taylorfest, Carlow, with live sound performance-19 September 2014
ENGAGE Arts Festival, Bandon-25-28 September
A new moving image work made in collaboration with Paddy Cahill with sound composition by Mike Glennon.
is currently being shown at
Undisclosed Territory 8
Studio Plesungan, Indonesia-26-31 August 2014
Corpus
Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris-From 11 September 2014
Taylorfest, Carlow, with live sound performance-19 September 2014
ENGAGE Arts Festival, Bandon-25-28 September
24 Hours in the Museum
A New Artwork, 2013
24 hours in the Museum is a collaborative project derived from the live performance, The Passing. A 24 hour performance at the Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The live performance took place from 7pm on the 17th September to 7pm on the 18th September 2011. 24 hours in the Museum it made of the stories of a series of encounters observed during this 24 hour live performance and is described in 24 pages; one page for each hour.
24 hours in the Museum is a collaborative project derived from the live performance, The Passing. A 24 hour performance at the Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The live performance took place from 7pm on the 17th September to 7pm on the 18th September 2011. 24 hours in the Museum it made of the stories of a series of encounters observed during this 24 hour live performance and is described in 24 pages; one page for each hour.
Impromtu in A flat, Insel Hombrich, 2013
COEXIST
A group show curated by Eamonn Maxwell
at the Kevin Kavanagh Gallery.
Including drawing by Coogan
of Robert Wilson re-appropriation of her
2001 live performance, Medea.
www.kevinkavanagh.ie
at the Kevin Kavanagh Gallery.
Including drawing by Coogan
of Robert Wilson re-appropriation of her
2001 live performance, Medea.
www.kevinkavanagh.ie
Cycling with Amanda
On a windy morning, I went for a cycle with Paddy Cahill and Philip De Roos to Bull Island.
We had a chat, I was nearly blown off the bike. They made a very beautiful film. Cycling with Amanda
Check out their website too www.cyclingwith.com
Yellow, An ArtFilm
http://yellowthefilm.wordpress.com/
Buried deep in the market area off Dublin's Capel Street, almost underground, is the historic Irish abbey, St. Mary’s. Here, in this hallowed space, six women dressed in yellow come, one by one and night after night, to wash and re-wash the long garment they are wearing. With effusive liquid emerging between their legs the action sits on a vertiginous axis between orgasmic and shameful. The ritual of repeatedly submerging and scrubbing the fabric they wear becomes an act of cleansing and rebirth, their raw knuckles scraping, increasingly violently, against the fabric. The grunts and groans of their efforts become haunting sounds echoing throughout the chamber. Their bodies twist and contort, becoming harbingers of an almost talismanic energy; an energy that can be felt like breath on your face, an energy that collectively becomes a triumph of the spirit. This film of that event has as its premise that to endure is to live and finally to triumph. It engages with the shamanist ritual of healing. These six extraordinary performances filmed in a series of epic single takes is an Irish film unlike any other you'll see this year. Amanda Coogan and Paddy Cahill's film presents concurrently on a single canvas the six performances, unfolding over four hours, following the durational nature of the original performances.
Yellow is a collision between Live Performance Art and Film. How do you explore Live Performance Art with Film? Cahill and Coogan have, for the past number of years, worked together recording Live Performances from the Visual Arts. (Seven Steps for the Irish Museum of Modern Art and Accumulator for VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art). It is out of these experiences they began to explore methods of doing justice to what they see as fundemental elements of Live Performance; duration, and the evolution of the physical experience of the performer. To this end Cahill constructed a rig for his camera that allowed freedom of movement with the camera and to record each four hour live performance in one take. Cahill became the seventh performer in the project, reacting to the live performance in an, immediate, embodied way.
Buried deep in the market area off Dublin's Capel Street, almost underground, is the historic Irish abbey, St. Mary’s. Here, in this hallowed space, six women dressed in yellow come, one by one and night after night, to wash and re-wash the long garment they are wearing. With effusive liquid emerging between their legs the action sits on a vertiginous axis between orgasmic and shameful. The ritual of repeatedly submerging and scrubbing the fabric they wear becomes an act of cleansing and rebirth, their raw knuckles scraping, increasingly violently, against the fabric. The grunts and groans of their efforts become haunting sounds echoing throughout the chamber. Their bodies twist and contort, becoming harbingers of an almost talismanic energy; an energy that can be felt like breath on your face, an energy that collectively becomes a triumph of the spirit. This film of that event has as its premise that to endure is to live and finally to triumph. It engages with the shamanist ritual of healing. These six extraordinary performances filmed in a series of epic single takes is an Irish film unlike any other you'll see this year. Amanda Coogan and Paddy Cahill's film presents concurrently on a single canvas the six performances, unfolding over four hours, following the durational nature of the original performances.
Yellow is a collision between Live Performance Art and Film. How do you explore Live Performance Art with Film? Cahill and Coogan have, for the past number of years, worked together recording Live Performances from the Visual Arts. (Seven Steps for the Irish Museum of Modern Art and Accumulator for VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art). It is out of these experiences they began to explore methods of doing justice to what they see as fundemental elements of Live Performance; duration, and the evolution of the physical experience of the performer. To this end Cahill constructed a rig for his camera that allowed freedom of movement with the camera and to record each four hour live performance in one take. Cahill became the seventh performer in the project, reacting to the live performance in an, immediate, embodied way.
