UNIT - Read more in May/June VAI Arts Newletter

unit project – introduction – a project by Sarah Searson (Commissioned by Laois County Council Arts service 2008 -2009 )
Unit supported thinking, making and writing along-side the town of Portlaoise. It was also about mutually investing in each other. The Local Authority supported the artists, the artists had in-depth support with writers/curatorial thinking, and more fundamentally the artists and writers/ curators themselves made huge commitments of time, thought and worked into this project over the best part of a year.
Unit project was about cultures, art-making and place. Its also using public monies for the arts to support creative work, writing, research, and development of relationships in-conjunction with ideas, locations and other people. The project also was also conceived as opportunity to make a change, do something different within a structured context and support of the Local Authority. We chose to do this with those who are hugely committed to doing this kind of work as a life practice. At the time of developing this project the stirrings of economic stresses were emerging to splinter into the town. So it was from here, working along with and in relation to the people and place the work emerged.
Concentrating on the existing interests of people from this place – the broad and the deep things that are about us all ,emerged personal ideas of hope, home, paradise, freedom, time, health, education, imagination and faith and emerging. There is nothing of the spectacle to this work – although there are moments of the spectacular in the sensitivity, range, depth and beauty of what has emerged in the all the projects – but its not bling –not a festival – but about lots of types of happenings.
Ultimately the people of the project came together through the artist’s actions to talk, meet, connect and receive. The project was supported by people who work in Portlaoise, people with different specialism’s, generalisms and knowledge’s, who included the artists into the place, and into their own place.
There is a booklet to mark the end of the project, it contains writing about the project and artists by Cliodhna Shaffrey, Padraic E Moore and Sally Timmons. We were thinking and talking with the artists that we nominated, these are the writings about it, my sincere thanks for their fellowship and the artists for their consideration, time and generosity.
Sarah Searson
unit project lead