Just finished installing “I Just Called (2026)” at the Old Museum Gallery in Mossley Mill, Newtownabbey.
Now, the installation brings the project fully back into the physical realm, with four vintage telephone seats and modified telephones.
It will be part of ArtsCare’s PRIME exhibition. The exhibition opens on 28 January and runs until 05 March. Thanks to Clare Lawlor and the ArtsCare team for allowing me to be part of this event again this year.
Proud to be a founding member of this initiative to provide an artist-owned alternative to the now hideously corporate Bandcamp. See: https://subvert.fm
Well, that’s a wrap for the “I Just Called” Libraries tour. Thanks to all the folks at Libraries NI for their help and support, and to everyone who came along to a talk or a “meet the artist” day. The project is still available online for the moment, and I will continue to solicit contributions in the form of new messages!
From today, there is a new way to participate in I just Called. You can record a message using the SpeakPipe service and It goes straight to my inbox. Why not give it a try? [Click here]
Come check out new PhD research in music and audio at the Ulster Sound Gallery: part of Presence Lab, our new arts research lab
You will hear creative works by PhD researchers in music/audio practices, all of whom have particular (and distinctive) interests in how music can be spatial and immersive. Colin Woods: ‘Transport’. | Henry Eady: ‘Embodied Martial Arts, Improvisation and Immersive, Interactive Sound’ | Aaron McGlinchey: ‘I am Sitting in a Tomb’ | Peter O’Doherty: ‘Topologies I: Textures’.
My piece Near Finsbury Park will be one of the works to be broadcast. This work orininally formed part of my proximity-activated installation, currently on permanent loan to the Audio Foundation in Auckland.
I Just Called will be launching its Belfast Libraries Tour on 03 October 2024 at the awesome Belfast Central Library at 6:30 pm. The installation will have a telephone seat on each of the three levels, each with access to a unique set of messages. From November, a single-seat version will tour all of the other branches as per the schedule below. There will be an opportunity to interact with the artist (me) and contribute content at each branch (dates to be finalised).
Proud to have I Just Called included as part of the first tranche of projects documented by the team at Liverpool University in the ‘Recovering the Art of Reconciliation’ project! I participated in a workshop session with them last month.
Researcher Dr Pauline Hadaway says, “ Recovering the Art of Reconciliation’ is the first online repository of its kind. Emerging from the findings of the earlier AHRC-funded investigation into the impact of the funded arts on conflict transformation in Northern Ireland, it makes available key information on arts-based peacebuilding projects from the early days of the Northern Irish peace process (c.1994) to the present day.”
I’m looking forward to the launch at the end of October! (More details then)
Well, that’s a wrap for the “I Just Called” tour of Antrim and Newtownabbey public libraries. It’s been epic and would not have happened without the enthusiasm and support of the staff and the partnership with Libraries NI. Thanks, in particular, to Becky and Danielle, to all who attended the talks, those who left messages in the visitor books and contributed their voices as new content. But wait… there’s more! From October, IJC will be visiting libraries across Belfast. Details to follow!
Exciting news! In partnership with Libraries NI, I Just Called is touring eight branch libraries in the Antrim and Newtownabbey district starting today at Glengormley Library. There will be an installation in each library and the opportunity to hear an artist talk (and contribute new content) at each venue. Dates are as below.
Glengormley: 07 May 2024 – 31 May 2024
Talk: Fri 10 May 11:30
Crumlin: 14 May 2024 – 07 June 2024
Talk: Fri 17 May 15:00
Rathcoole: 03 June 2024 – 28 June 2024
Talk: Tue 04 June 11:00
Cloughfern: 11 June 2024 – 05 July 2024
Talk: 11 June 12:00
Randalstown: 02 July 2024 – 02 August 2024
Talk: 05 July 15:00
Antrim (Main): 08 July 2024 – 09 August 2024
Talk: 19 July 15:00
Antrim (Greystone): 06 August 2024 – 30 August 2024
Talk: 08 August 11:00
Ballyclare: 2 August 2024 – 02 September 2024
Talk: 16 August 11:00
Thanks to Becky (Branch Manager at Glengormley) and the rest of the team at Libraries NI for enabling this to happen.