Dr. Richardson’s mention of tour fatigue this afternoon epitomizes my current condition. However, today’s 1916 Walking Tour, guided by Lorcan Collins was enough to pull me out of my exhaustion. For starters, he is hilarious, and humor will always pull me out of a daze. Additionally, his ability to find humor within such a devastating subject matter is amazing. He is clearly intimately attached to Ireland’s history but can recognize the power his message could have when it is made accessible through humor.

Besides his humor, he was loaded with information made even more compelling when conveyed in person and in the places he writes about. The most memorable moment for me was when he pulled out the bullets recovered from the battle and placed them in the openings on the columns outside the GPO. We’ve walked past that place half a dozen times since arriving in Dublin, but never had I felt the volume of history resting in that place. Additionally, his detailing about how and where the soldier’s concealing themselves and awaited the Brits arrival added depth to a place that I was struggling to imagine as war torn. In fact, I’ve struggled entirely imagining the Dublin that Joyce and historians described to have existed at the turn of the century; there is little left in ruins, as is typical in most European, previously war-torn countries. In the article links here (https://www.irishcentral.com/news/dublin-still-bears-the-scars-of-the-1916-easter-rising-almost-100-years-later-170010346-237576791), one can see images from the battles that we have been discussing throughout this trip. Modernity, economic success and (most importantly) freedom (!!) has allowed Dublin to move forward from its history. I was surprised to find the Shelbourne Hotel in the article above. While one of our guides may have very well mentioned this place, and I just as well may have lost it in the loads of information we have consumed, I was excited to learn that the exterior remains as it had when the battle took place from its windows. Driving past this building throughout our time here, I always notice the beauty of its exterior and the traditional aspects of the doorman and bright flowers. I’m eager to examine it more closely for evidence of the battle concealed behind its beauty.

Afterwards, a few of us made our way to the Chester Beatty Library, and it exceeded my expectations. We were in awe of the sheer size of Beatty’s collection. The guide at the entrance explained to us that what is showcased is only 1% of Beatty’s collection, which was overwhelming for us, especially since we couldn’t even comprehend the concept of building a collection the size of what was shown.

Because of my lack of exposure to Islamic histories, I was captivated by what I learned from the Islamic collections (Here’s a link since we could not take any photos: http://www.cbl.ie/Collections/The-Islamic-Collection.aspx). Specifically, I was interested in the writing styles used. Besides the beauty of their script, one piece commented on the layering technique often used in published pieces, where readers would look to certain features in a specific order to find meaning. The bit of a time we had to spend did not allow me to completely internalize this concept, nor would even weeks with works, but I was fascinated by this alternative form of communication that I had never come into contact with before.

Once I saw Micheal Farrell’s “Madonna Ireland or the Very First Real Irish Political Picture,” or “Madonna Ireland,” I couldn’t look away. The picture has so much to take in, with the starkly naked angel, to the peeling paper revealing a second face, to the contorted depiction of the infamous Leonardo da Vinci’s Study of proportions.

I think the da Vinci illusion is the most striking, considering that his work is meant to convey proportion, whereas Farrell’s piece does not. Most notable is the altered face in the da Vinci photo, offering a much more disturb figure with contorted features. Additionally, instead of portraying balance, the figure is concealing its genital. The figures acknowledgement of the exposed genitals reads as him attempting to conceal them from becoming sexualized and acknowledges a vulnerability in nudity. If this is true, what does it mean that the angel is also nude?

While I do not have training in theories surrounding art, the chaos depicted here rests in the space’s inability to find balance. For starters, we have the mess surrounding the naked angel. My immediate impression upon seeing the angel is she is out of place; I anticipate an angel being in a pure space, without the clutter and disarray–and especially without the intrusive face in the corner, looming over her. To an extent, though, she appears trapped in this chaos, seeking an pseudo-escape by looking out the small opening in a window.

Another feature of the Hugh Lane Gallery that I loved was the quotes about place in the Bacon section. He says:

“For some reason the moment I saw this place I knew that I could work here. I am very influenced by places – by the atmosphere of a room…”

“This mess here around us is rather like my mind; it may be a good image of what goes on inside me, that’s what it’s like, my life is like that…”

Because of the conversations we have had about place in our class, I appreciated Bacon’s acknowledgement of the role of place in the creative process. Interestingly, he acknowledges that a place was essentially waiting for him, but that it also was able to be molded into being his, with him adding a mess to it–making it his own.