<strong>Midl<strong>and</strong></strong> <strong>Arts</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Culture</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> | SUMMER 2012Collaborate?Pontificate?Man-I-Pulate?UNIQUE TO OFFALY, MAN-I-PULATE IS A PERFORMATIVE INTERFACE, EMERGING IN ACURIOUSLY SPONTANEOUS MANNER FROM THE BOG BEFORE RETURNING TO IT.The group consists of a highlyincongruous jazz outfit ‘Miles ‘O BogEnsemble’ (Joachim Hein), a ratherunlikely farmer’s son from Cloghan;(Ronan Coughlan) <strong>and</strong> an out of jointcontemporary dancer (Nick Bryson) wholoathes being described as ‘from acommunity’ in Northern Irel<strong>and</strong>, yet whosecretly permits himself to be describedas an ‘interpretive dancer’.The only question we are concernedwith is “who is manipulating who?” –as ever. And it does all come down tolanguage <strong>and</strong> vocabulary; powerfulpeople are powerful because theyoccupy the vocabulary of power.As well the founding fathers, Man-I-pulateconsists of the highly skilled <strong>and</strong>motivated musicians Anne Mcghee (flute),Connor Hein (guitar) <strong>and</strong> Dave Cashen(drums).This crowd of Sunday Miscellan<strong>ie</strong>s hasperformed equally bizarrely to a crowd ofdance aficionados at last year’s AbsolutDublin Fringe in what was a ratherargumentative pub Sweeney’s on Dublin’sDame Street as they launched a tiradeagainst the arts establishmentjuxtaposed with some arabesque in anattempt to placate the bewilderedaud<strong>ie</strong>nce. This manifesto <strong>and</strong> bluster,counter culture <strong>and</strong> countering counterculture, posturing <strong>and</strong> provoking, is astrange thrashing about for an identity.So how is this collaboration translating?Bryson says: “I regularly shout these daysin my performance work ‘I am not scaredto live in Offaly!’”Describing what inspired his involvement,Coughlan would say: “Two fine gentlemenfrom different countr<strong>ie</strong>s to me. One is aNord<strong>ie</strong> <strong>and</strong> the other is a Kraut. Now don’tbe so easily offended they do not play upto their stereotypes, these two men are ofInternational mind. Pablo Picasso saidthat “a great artist has no nationality”.“I am a firm bel<strong>ie</strong>ver that a great artisthas no borders or boundar<strong>ie</strong>s <strong>and</strong> cansee national identity as a farce in itself.Every artist knows that, right? Maybe not.So we decided to try <strong>and</strong> put on a touringshow of what it’s like being a male artistin Offaly. It was a simple plan <strong>and</strong> webegan, talking that is. We decided to callourselves Man-I-Pulate. We were threemen of different generations trying tomake pulate a verb. Our shtick was thatof the rural avengers, I wanted to letpeople know that we are HERE! LISTENUP, we are artists from Offaly <strong>and</strong> we wantpeople to realise that it’s OK to be anartist from the countryside. I have put upwith years of stick over being an artistfrom my contemporar<strong>ie</strong>s but I don’t give as**t what anyone thinks of me, I wouldprefer if they had an opinion, position orangle, but ultimately begrudgery does notkeep me awake at night.“Aud<strong>ie</strong>nces don’t know what to think ofus. People act like they know what ishappening; like they have figured it outwhen they haven’t... this is calledpretending. Like so many shows after, Ithink people find it hard to talk orapproach us because they think we aresome sort of manic assholes who hasmore time than sense <strong>and</strong> chip on ourshoulder that you could deem‘considerable’. But sometimes whathappens in an art space makes no senseat all.“I regularlyshout thesedays in myperformancework ‘I am notscared to live inOffaly!’”“Edmund Burke, the Irish philosopherstated that ‘evil prevails when good mendo nothing‘. Or in this case bulls**tprevails when Great men do nothing.Joachim, Nick, Dave, Connor <strong>and</strong> Anneare all brilliant at what they do, we havehad plenty of praise along the way <strong>and</strong> wework together to try <strong>and</strong> challengethe status quo.”Joachim Hein, a bassist <strong>and</strong> composer, isa musician who grew up with Miles Davis,Coltrane, Mingus, Monk <strong>and</strong> the prospectof working with Man-I-Pulate as themusical “founding father” was <strong>and</strong>remains beyond his wildest dreams.He describes his input as “about creating,through free form improvisation, thesoundtrack to the spoken word <strong>and</strong>dance performance, responding to subtlechanges in dynamics or mood,sometimes prodding the guys on to reacheven further, dig deeper, or search moreintensely. It is such a challenge every time<strong>and</strong> in so many different ways, that I donot think a creative musician could askfor much more.“With this amount of complete creativefreedom comes a bundle ofresponsibilit<strong>ie</strong>s, such as never overpowerthe performance of the front men, nor letthem down when they are reaching fortheir respective heights or, worst offence,just bore the socks off everybody. Like abinding circle that is permanentlychallenged until it bursts <strong>and</strong> then youhurry back to create a new, perhaps biggerbut certainly different form. I try to tame asubtle chaos only to unleash it again untilthe performance eventually comes to itsend. As a player in a collective of likeminds, yet individually inclined to bringtheir very own creative juices to the pot, Ibel<strong>ie</strong>ve this is as close as you can get toheaven this side of the coffin <strong>and</strong> I wouldnot want to miss it for the world. Long mayit continue!,” he concluded. 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PORTLAOISENATIVE TAKESSOJOURN TO THEPUBLICThe <strong>Arts</strong> Office, Laois County Council recently hosted anexhibition of paintings by Portlaoise native Christy Brown,entitled Sojourn. In association with the HSE, the exhibitionwas officially opened on Thursday, March 29 in Áras anChontae, Portlaoise by Kevin Kavanagh, Director of KevinKavanagh Gallery.About Christy BrowneChristy was born in 1954 <strong>and</strong> lived inBridge St, Portlaoise where his family rana General Merchants shop. The shoplater became a restaurant <strong>and</strong> takeaway,one of the very few in Portlaoise,which was a very different place at thattime. It is now Kelly’s butcher shop butthe Brown family remains synonymouswith the business fabric of the town.Christy’s first dalliance with the art wasin primary school with the Sisters ofCharity <strong>and</strong> this interest followed throughto secondary school in the CBS where hedid Irish dancing <strong>and</strong> played tin whistle.Christy lost his dad at an early age <strong>and</strong> atthis point he came into possession of aguitar, his first love <strong>and</strong> went on tobecome very profic<strong>ie</strong>nt at it, the mouthorgan <strong>and</strong> blues harp.In the mid 70s he then indulged inperforming arts, busking firstly in London<strong>and</strong> then eventually in Portlaoise wherehis regular pitch was the archway atMarshes Lane. He also busked inTullamore <strong>and</strong> indeed was the subject ofan article in the Leinster Express with theheadline Laoisman becomes Tullamore‘s Troubadour.His musical leanings were folk <strong>and</strong>ballad with nationalistic tendenc<strong>ie</strong>s <strong>and</strong>,so, It was a natural progression that hejoined Amnesty International.Christy suffered a stroke in 2008 whichimpinged on his guitar playing <strong>and</strong> ledhim to be more involved in the visualarts. He describes his influences fromboth performance <strong>and</strong> visual arts as NeilYoung <strong>and</strong> Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan<strong>and</strong> Christy Moore <strong>and</strong> also working withSeamus Morton.Health <strong>and</strong> artFrom the late 70’s Christy encounteredmental health problems needinghospitalisation in St Fintan’s Hospital <strong>and</strong>it was there that Christy really becameinvolved in art, collaborating with otherartists, but with no formal training. In thepast five years Christy has attended theLink activity centre in St Fintan’s campus.Under the guidance of Angela DelaneyCNS in Art Therapy intervention his artbegan to flourish <strong>and</strong> he won a nationalcompetition last year at an exhibitionentitled Art against Stigma in FarmleighEstate, Pheonix Park.Since 2010 Christy has lived in ErkinaHouse, Rathdowney, where his artcontinues to flourish <strong>and</strong> where he hashis own studio, beside fellow artistSeamus Morton. He is also attendingAbbeyleix Further Education Centre,completing an art course under MaryDelaney, <strong>Arts</strong> Teacher.To say that Christy has been on a longsojourn with art is putting it mildly.Christy’s journey has been greatlyassisted by the <strong>Arts</strong> Office at LaoisCounty Council culminating in his veryfirst solo exhibition.This wonderful exhibition ran from March29 until April 20 open to the public inÁras an Chontae, Portlaoise fromMonday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.The <strong>Arts</strong> Office acknowledges thefinancial support of the <strong>Arts</strong> Council inmaking the <strong>Arts</strong> Programme possible.For more details contact: The <strong>Arts</strong>Office, Laois County Council, Áras anChontae, Portlaoise. Tel: 0578674342/44 or email:artsoff@laoiscoco.<strong>ie</strong> MAdult Education Programme:Junior CertificateLeaving CertificateCraft - FETAC Level 3 & 4 (major award)Creative Craft - FETAC Level 5 (major award)Art, Craft & Design - FETAC Level 5(major award)Art & Business - FETAC Level 6(major award)Nursing Stud<strong>ie</strong>s - FETAC Level 5 (major award)Community Care - FETAC Level 5 (major award)Business Stud<strong>ie</strong>s withECDL – FETAC Level 5 (major award)Business Management nt - FETAC Level 6(major award)How to applyApplication forms areavailable from the Centreor on our website057 8731127www.abbeyleixfec.<strong>ie</strong>AbbeyleixFurtherEducationCentreMountrath Road,Abbeyleix, Co. Laois.T. 057 873 1127F. 057 873 1864E.info@abbeyleixfec.<strong>ie</strong> fec.<strong>ie</strong>W.www.abbeyleixfec.<strong>ie</strong>17