From the quaint stone cottage located at the convergence of Wicklow, Carlow, and Wexford counties, video artist Jack Phelan is masterminding a large-scale visual feat. His current project, titled Six Sides Sawn, is an audio-visual spectacle that will be unveiled on Kilkenny Castle’s walls for the forthcoming city arts festival.
Phelan, an artisan of moving pictures, is stitching together a whimsical ode to the art of illusion for the Light Up the Castle extravaganza. His creative process involves crafting physical objects at first, which are then manipulated through photography, collage, and digital techniques. His aim is not to produce a piece that radiates digitality, but instead, he strives for a handcrafted feel. He’s steering towards creating an awe-inspiring spectacle infused with surprise and wonder.
Kilkenny’s 12th century castle, the epicentre of the charming boutique city and the seat of the Ormond family for nearly six centuries, has its own historical underpinnings. But Phelan dismisses getting too involved in detailed history, jesting that his perception of history is mostly visual, akin to smoke tendrils, which might be seen as a shortcoming but could potentially be an asset. He figures some spectators with sound historical knowledge will visually map their understanding, while those with a nebulous grasp of history will derive pleasure from the unveiling of something mysterious.
Last year, Phelan’s debut audio-visual projection was focused on craftsmanship, which adorned the castle walls. The present work weaves together elements of magic with those of castle construction. Phelan strongly felt inclined towards the concept of magic, in all its renditions, beginning with the idea that Kilkenny Castle itself holds magical aspects, since its construction until the present, even viewed through contemporary eyes. He believes that while the past might be characterised as technically primitive or unsophisticated, we can’t build a castle in contemporary times due to the loss of certain skills, thus underlining the inherent magical quality of castle construction.
We’re situated in the shared workspace of Phelan and his wife, Erin Hermosa, who also happens to be an artist in the film industry. The pair collaborates on various projects together. The studio houses an array of tactile and digital resources and implements inclusive of fabrics, cardstock, and an assortment of scraps of paper. There are boxes filled with rolls of masking tapes and adhesive tapes in diverse sizes and colours. Despite the multitude of items, the studio remains neat and free of clutter. The surplus artist materials, such as piles of corkboards, are stored in their garage.
Phelan observes the struggle to get rid of something only to realise its necessity almost immediately, reinforcing the instinct to hoard. Within the studio, there is a microscope equipped with a camera port that he utilises for time-lapse photography. There’s also a computer and an animation table which features a DIY rostrum camera. Phelan claims to have done a bit of every possible type of filming and photography.
The walls of the studio exhibit posters from his animations, namely Light Up the Castle and Mero, which was featured in this year’s Galway Film Fleadh. One can also observe Hermosa’s creative talents, ranging from ceramics, traditional sign-painting, graphic design, to printmaking, that were used in the background art creation and paper set crafting for the animations.
The animation table also holds a large laser-cut jigsaw presenting a photo of Kilkenny Castle, courtesy of Erin Hermosa and Phelan. Originally designed for fun, the jigsaw served as the starting point for Phelan’s project. He captured the assembly of the jigsaw with his hands, manipulating the images digitally by integrating elements from a 14th century German manuscript, adding a glimpse of medieval castle life into his work. He introduces this sequence in three chapters within the Light Up the Castle film, creating a magical narrative that portrays the building of the jigsaw as a card trick.
Incorporating his own hands into the grand design of the castle helped to foster a connection between the audience and the castle setting. This offered an interesting dynamic, allowing for manipulation of scale and the element of time. The story then leads into a traditional portrayal of castle living, featuring nobility, architects, arriving guests, reading, and hunting; a typical depiction of the highs and lows experienced in castle life, including feasting, celebration, and conflict.
“Light Up the Castle” applies projection mapping techniques to the architectural structure to match Phelan’s visual concept; playing with perception to project an image of the castle within itself to illuminate it, using enhanced contrast. This technique gives the appearance of vanishing pieces of the castle when elements of the projection are eliminated. Lighting itself, the castle encourages interaction with the architecture, that traditional lighting methods wouldn’t be able to emulate.
Prior to working on “Light Up the Castle,” Phelan hadn’t been particularly drawn to projection mapping. However, following the project, he began viewing it as a form of “building-sized enchantment”. Despite wishing for a more suitable term for projection mapping (given it’s only one tactic employed in its creation), Phelan suggested the term “architectural interventions via moving images.”
The projection expertise used in “Light Up the Castle” was provided by Tom Rohan from Eventco, who had previously collaborated with Phelan when he was a key member of the team that turned Liberty Hall into a public video art exhibit for the Dublin Theatre Festival in 2009.
Phelan’s craft involves the creation of dynamic imagery; sometimes through live-action footage, other times through films, motion graphics, or even animation. Much of his work leans towards theatre production. From his perspective, he identifies himself as a film-maker mainly working in theatrical production.
He has collaborated with theatrical figures such as Annie Ryan and Annabelle Comyn, as well as multitalented writer-director, Enda Walsh. Their collaborations include operas like The Second Violinist and The First Child, with Donnacha Dennehy. His work with Dead Centre on To Be a Machine, which was a stage adaptation of Mark O’Connell’s book, turned into a live-audience-upload occurrence, fit for the times of the pandemic. It broached transhumanism and the human identity in an AI era.
Post his Kilkenny stint, he’ll engage in a project on Walsh’s Safe House, a lyrical musical piece composed by Anna Mullarkey, set to debut at the Abbey’s Peacock stage during the Dublin Theatre Festival.
His live production, the Light Up the Castle’s Six Sides Sawn, gets its title from stonemasonry. This refers to shaping a stone block on all sides before utilisation. The tale, like a medieval jigsaw, begins at the castle’s riverside setting, and maneuvers into a time that relied heavily on water transport. It artfully toys with abstract and impressionistic castle projections, giving an illusion of fluidity.
The ultimate segment aims to create an illusion using theatrical techniques and elements that are unpredictable. Phelan remains tight-lipped about the specifics but hints that it will involve upbeat music and some surprise elements.
In the previous year, the castle grounds saw nightly gatherings of 800 spectators for the show. The ideal conditions are when it’s quite late and dark, prolonging people’s stay in town and building the anticipation. As other artists wrap up their performances at the Kilkenny Arts Festival, this becomes an opportune time to introduce them to new inspiration or simply entertain them after a hectic day, creating an intimate festival mood.
Phelan recounts the entire venture of working on such a large-scale project without a firm foundation, as quite liberating and enjoyable. It’s a rare artistic indulgence, where one step spontaneously leads to the next.
The Kilkenny Castle Rose Garden will be the venue for ‘Light Up the Castle: Six Sides Sawn’, a free spectacle that will be taking place as part of the Kilkenny Arts Festival. The garden gates will swing open at 10.15pm each night from Wednesday, August 14th to Saturday, August 17th. The show will commence at 10.40pm and won’t require a ticket.