For the Birds, 2008

Concourse Off Site
Blackrock Park, DLR
1 May – 1 June, 2008

Alan Phelan’s three artworks make a connection between the social and musical history of Blackrock Park and the bird wildlife. The two papier-mâché sculptures and graphics with graffiti on the bandstand take as their starting point the Thin Lizzy free gig in the park in 1971. In referencing this gig, Alan creates a link to the past by re-introducing shared moments from the past into the present and perhaps re-establishes a musical legacy for the park among a new generation of park users. Research plays a fundamental role in Alan’s practice, supporting his interest in the narrative potential surrounding an artwork. The aesthetic of these three artworks, Lizzy Feeder, Bald Finch and Thin Lyrics reference the styles and phenomena associated with the park in its transitional state. The ideas implicit in the works are humorous, nostalgic and critically engaged.

“With my work I am interested in referencing narratives from history and popular culture as well as site concerns. For this project I have centred the three works around a music event in the park and the birds who inhabit the Park – fusing a human recreation aspect of a public park and the wildlife who also, in a way, use the park.”