University of Limerick Arts Office has unveiled a new work in collaboration with sound artist Sean Taylor called ‘AUDIBLE.’
The video portrait is inspired by the soundscape of American Football and features the UL Vikings team, who won promotion to the Premier Division of Ireland’s fastest growing sport last year.
The socially engaged art project began when the UL Arts Office helped the Vikings secure funding to acquire authentic American Football goalposts for their home games in 2019 in exchange for participating in the piece.
AUDIBLE was originally conceived to combine the highly stylised plays of American Football with the elaborate choreography of cheerleading. However, the portrait evolved in reaction to the necessary restrictions that the COVID-19 pandemic brought, ultimately transforming into a video portrait of the team filmed in the Kneafsey Gallery on the UL campus.
Patricia Moriarty, UL Arts Officer, explained: “In April 2020, Sean Taylor set out on a quest to develop a socially engaged art project in collaboration with members of the both the University of Limerick Vikings American Football Team and the University of Limerick Cheerleading Club, entitled AUDIBLE. The publication shares perspectives of the journey of this project as it re-imagines socially engaged art in the reality of the COVID-19 global pandemic.”
Professor Shane Kilcommins, Provost and Deputy President at UL, who launched the artwork at an event on Tuesday, said: “AUDIBLE is a unique combination of sport and art, and shows the diversity of life on the UL campus. This video portrait offers a fascinating insight into the creation of art during the pandemic, and snapshot of life at a time when our understanding and experience of the world changed rapidly.”
AUDIBLE received additional funding from Limerick City and Council Arts Office and will be on permanent display in the new UL Student Life Centre when it is completed and will be shown in the UL Arena and across campus in the meantime.
Watch the full piece below: