Herakles and the Stympalian Birds a new piece of public art by one of Ireland’s foremost artists John Kindness was unveiled at The Source Arts Centre & Library in Thurles last week.
The launch was performed by award-winning Belfast born writer Ciaran Carson.
Greek Mythology informs the subject matter of the work, specifically one of the Greek hero’s (Herakles) labours in which he was asked to destroy a dangerous flock of water birds. The artist has done quite a bit of work with the Herakles myth and feels that he is brainless brawn personified. Unlike the trials and vision quests of other heroes, his labours are set pieces, carried out at the behest of his masters, so in a way he is also the archetypal mercenary.
In this work for The Source, the birds have turned into books and pieces of text. A key moment for the artist as a student was the discovery of Ulysses, “I was immediately inspired by the way Joyce employed a variety of writing techniques to embellish different parts of his tale, particularly in the Oxen of the Sun chapter where he gives us a potted history of the language as a baby is brought into the world”. Borrowing from this concept, the work uses key texts to form a brief history of writing in the shape of a rising flock of birds; from cuneiform tablets and hieroglyphics to illuminated manuscripts, from block prints, to Gutenberg and movable type, on to Art Nouveau and the chaotic layouts of Futurism. Herakles is composed from the detritus of a fly-tipping site; discarded DIY materials, fake wood grain, rococco carpet and ormolu. He is the denizen of book-free domestic bliss.
Herakles and the Stympalian Birds is presented in two parts, the main work is located in The Source Library and explores methods of writing up to the 20th Century with the “Postscript” piece of the work located in The Centres’ foyer relating to 21st century communication methods such as texting and e-mail using extracts from a locally relevant text by Thurles born writer Dennis O’Driscoll; the phone texts are extracts from the King James Bible translated into ‘textspeak’.
This new work by John Kindness is influenced by the architectural materials found in The Source and resonates with the cultural use of the building through the subject matter explored in the work.
The image is derived from the 6th Century B.C. Greek Vase painting depicting Herakles and the Stympalian Birds and is painted on zinc panels using enamels, oil and gold leaf.
Commissioned by The Source Arts Centre in partnership with Tipperary Libraries under the Per Cent for Art Scheme this magnificent permanent artwork is an important addition to the County’s public art collection and can be viewed by all users of The Source.
More photos from the launch night can be viewed by clicking here