Catherine Bowe selects Songwood by Orla Barry from the Wexford County Council Art Collection
Songwood is a majestic work, standing over three metres tall and adorned with handwritten cursive script. The script began its life as a song penned by artist Orla Barry, titled ‘Primal Counterpoint’ (2022). A portion of the lyrics, representing the essence of the song, are presented on a large expanse of London plane lumber. Barry discovered the wood in her cousin’s shed, where it had been stored for twenty years after being removed from O’Connell Street in Dublin to make way for the Luas tram line.
The lumber marks its looming presence in silence. The text interweaves natural, human and animal soundscapes. Barry does not romanticise nature, animals or trees as objects of affection or wonder. Instead, they are cohabitants, subjects that offer a different awareness. In this way, the work investigates, both thematically and formally, the relationships between nature and culture, language and perception.
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