Offshore: Rathlin

Some news!
New project. New exhibition. New book.
The group exhibition, entitled O U T | T U O, will open on the 17th of January at Catalyst Arts, Belfast.

[Rathlin seascape, July 2010]

Offshore

Rathlin Island, situated on the northeast coast of County Antrim, has long been an entrancing personal interest and thus became the subject for this project.  It is surrounded by some of the most treacherous waters in Ireland, existing as a flux point for three seas, and with a diverse range of ecosystems it is home to creatures both rare and hardy.  Much like the island of Shakespeare’s The Tempest this magical place is saturated in secrets and stories, over the years Rathlin Island has been home to the King of Scotland and was where the Vikings first landed on their conquest of Ireland.  In the last century the population has been in decline, yet earlier this year a large housing development was completed with the intention of restoring and reinvigorating the island.  As an island under a state of change this was the optimum window to visit and document Rathlin.

Offshore is a photographic essay based on a personal journey to Rathlin Island, where both the journey and the destination are framed through mono no aware - the poetry of the everyday.  The Japanese aesthetic philosophy of mono no aware, in the simplest definition, celebrates the transience of all things and the beauty of their passing.  This is very common in Japanese literature and poetry, where seasonal imagery (kigo), banal actions and simple gestures become immortalised.  As such, a haiku can also be seen as a snapshot.

-PM