The Curfew Tower, March/April 2010

The Curfew Tower in the centre of Cushendall, Co. Antrim was built by Francis Turnley in 1817 to confine local riotous prisoners. Dan McBride, an army pensioner, was given the job of permanent garrison and was armed with one musket, a bayonet, a brace of pistols and a thirteen-feet-long pike. The five storey, sandstone tower is now owned by artist/writer/somtimes musican Bill Drummond, where he established the “In You We Trust” residency. He has invited Catalyst Arts to curate an artist’s residency programme for 2010.

Having had a hectic previous few months, my stay at the Curfew Tower gave me lots of time and space for free-thinking and making. With long hours in isolation and silence, without a mobile phone signal, TV or internet I began to realise how sequestered the tower felt. However the fantastic people and unspeakable beauty of the place quickly assured me I would have an enjoyable stay!

Over the course of an hour, using a macro lense and hitting the shutter every 30 seconds I took a series of photographs of the comings and goings of Cushendall through the huge keyhole in the tower’s front door.

I quickly bacme fascinated by the caravan parks dotted around the Glens of Antrim. These popular modular structures with such potential for mobility, temporary architecture on blocks, became the object of much of my thoughts. Their satellite dishes and antennas cracked me up! These ideals of a utopian holiday destination in prefabricated trailer homes, where the sky is always blue, became manifest in the drawings, paintings and collages below.

The 3rd of May saw Cushendall’s U21 local hurling team Ruairí Ógs play Rasharkin in the first round of the Hurling Champions. Ruairí Ógs won with a resounding scoreline of Cusendall 7-13 Rasharkin 1-13. In honour of their victory and as a goodbye present of sorts, I established a temporary radio station on board the tower’s rooftop. Using a home made coaxial cable antenna and a 50mW transmitter I broadcasted Queen’s “We are the Champions” on repeat for one hour on 106.5FM. I played a selection of my own favourite songs for another hour!