A couple of months ago, I came across details of a project being run by one of my oldest net-friends and sporadic Dublin drinking partner Anto Casey. The Twelve Doors project lets twelve Irish street artists take control of Noone Casey’s office door for a month each, to use as a creative platform in any way they see fit.
I was absolutely fascinated. I have little structured knowledge of street art as a phenomenon, but I frequently stop to stare at an eye-catching piece of graffiti and some of the most memorable examples that I can recall were spotted in Dublin itself. I had questions, to which Anto willingly responded.
You were inspired by the Irish street art community. What’s the particular attraction of street art?
Irish street art harks back to the Belfast and Derry political murals from the 1970′s. Even today the Free Derry Wall acts as a challenge and a statement of intent. My visits to Belfast in the late 70′s & early 80′s had a troubled sense of foreboding amplified by the republican and loyalist gable murals.
More recently, visitors to Dublin cannot help but pick up on the work of artists such as Maser, Will St Ledger and Asbestos. Their work is not graffiti but rather public art for public consumption.
I love the transient nature of street art; the lack of permanence mirrors the relationship between recorded and live music. We all know musicians who are more at home in a studio completing work for posterity however I often prefer the raw nervous energy of a live gig. The artists who are working on street art pieces are performing ‘live’.
“Artivism” sounds fairly political. What’s your definition of the term?
Artivism could be defined as political activism through art. For example, artivist Will St Ledger laid numerous hand painted ‘land mines’ throughout Dublin parks and green spaces to draw attention to world landmine day. The bomb disposal squad spent the day defusing painted plates in St Stephens Green resulting in full press coverage.
Is there any particular significance to the use of the door, rather than walls, etc?
I could say that the door is a defined space challenging the artists to work their piece into a 6ft by 3 ft canvas, however the reality is that the door itself was the driver of the project; it was an opportunity to improve a slightly seedy part of town and to lighten the common depressed mood circulating the crash in the Irish economy.
Why is there a very definite twelve-month timescale for the project, as opposed to making it open-ended?
Twelve artists, twelve months fits into a neatly defined time frame. We may rerun the concept for another twelve months or else run it elsewhere in a new location. Hopefully this will be an ongoing project which increases the opportunities for street artists to get their work on view without falling foul of the law. Interestingly the May twelvedoors artist Konk was in court recently on charges of damaging and defacing property and was served a 2 year custodial sentence which was thankfully reduced to a €14,000 fine and 240 hours community service.
A recent Art Raid event was held to raise funds for Konk. This involved people paying a €20 entry fee to the Gallery in FilmBase in Temple Bar. When the fire alarm sounded, you grabbed the nearest piece of art from the wall and departed the gallery as quickly as possible.
You’re probably the most radical accountant that I know. How have your clients reacted to the project?
We have always acted for a number of artists and musicians who enjoy the concept. Other clients also see the sense of humour and mischievousness involved in the project.
Would you like to see others picking up on the idea, whether in Dublin or elsewhere?
It would be great to see the concept picked up in other towns and cities. There are doors everywhere! The plan is to run a Flickr and/or MySpace campaign to see what enthusiasm can be generated across the web. I have been waiting until our 2nd door is up so that the concept can be easier understood before we roll this out. We would be delighted to host the photos from other locations on our website.
More generally, what’s your view of the creative scene in Dublin at the moment?
Dublin as ever is a town full of gangs. Gangs of artivists, gangs of musicians, gangs of out of work actors, even gangs of creative artists…. One of the best examples of this gang culture is Bodytonic which has been renting the Bernard Shaw pub in Portobello for the past couple of years. Bodytonic is a gang of djs, artists and musicians who made home in an old Dublin city boozer hosting gigs, exhibitions, car boot sales and street art on its walls. The gang mentality will continue to support and strengthen the Dublin creative scene.
Our shared history is anchored in the activities of the marvellous Virgin Prunes. What do you see as the strongest element of their legacy?
The great Lypton Village gang of course spawned the Prunes and U2. I find it difficult to see direct influences from the Prunes in current art and musical output from Dublin. You have to remember The Prunes were treated as an oddity in Dublin – gigs sold out because they were events but record sales were brutal. The Prunes were like the slightly confused Aunt who shows up at funerals and weddings cursing and muttering under her breath. Tales of her woes often outlived the events. Gavin and Guggi are now a generation away from the new young bucks currently setting out their stalls. In fact they are seen as part of the established U2 set and would not be identified as cutting edge in either a musical or artistic role.
That’s what happens, I guess… things move on, the new radicals replace the old ones. The king is dead, long live the king. I certainly didn’t have much of a feel for what’s going on in Dublin at the moment until I read Anto’s responses. I like what he’s doing with this project: turning a mundane necessity into a platform for art.
I echo his enthusiasm for sibling Twelve Doors projects in other towns and cities. Maybe it appeals to you too, or maybe you know of a similar project or experiment in your area. It’d be wonderful to use the web to spread this project far and wide, so this is my own very modest effort at a bit of well-deserved publicity.