Artist’s Apple project bites back

July 14th, 2011 Posted in Apple, Arts, Technology No Comments

Kyle McDonald, an artist based in New York, had two Apple stores in the city fooled with his latest work. For three days last month, he installed a program on as many as 100 computers in both stores that automatically takes a photo every minute.

The thinking behind the slightly creepy project was to capture people’s expressions as they stare at computers, in an effort to make people think more about technology and how we interact with it.

Once he had collected his catalogue of photos he then ran an ‘exhibition’ in the stores. Anyone who looked at a computer saw a photo of themselves, followed by a slideshow of other people who had been there before them.

It wasn’t until the following week that four secret service men showed up unannounced on his doorstep and confiscated his computers, iPod and flash drives. McDonald maintains that he hasn’t violated any laws, but is hoping that Apple will let him back into their store one last time so he can buy a replacement computer.

View some of the photos on his blog, ‘People Staring at Computers‘.

Source: Mashable

Kenneth O’Halloran wins World Press Photo Award

February 11th, 2011 Posted in Arts, Awards 1 Comment

Congratulations are due to Kenneth O’Halloran who has won a World Press Photo Award for his striking ‘Fair Trade’ portraits.

Kenneth took third place for his photo story of Irish country fairs, the second major accolade of the year for the photographer who was also recently shortlised for the Terry O’Neill award.

The portraits feature fair-goers in various locations, spanning generations as well as social class and occupation. You can view several portraits from the project on his website.

Well done, Ken.

Kenneth O’Halloran shortlisted for Terry O’Neill Award

January 11th, 2011 Posted in Arts, Awards, Media, Websites we like 1 Comment

Kenneth O’Halloran is an Irish photographer whos latest project, ‘Tales from the Promised Land’, was shortlisted for the 2010 Terry O’Neill Award last month. The award forms a showcase for new work by both established and upcoming photographers and celebrates the diversity of talent working in the photographic medium today.

Kenneth was born in the West of Ireland and is a graduate of Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design, and Technology. His shortlisted project was exhibited for a week at the HotShoe Gallery in London.

Another portrait of his entitled ‘Twins: Puck Fair’ is currently being shown in the National Portrait Gallery in London as part of the Taylor Wessing Porttait Prize 2010.

www. kennethohalloran.com

Galway City

August 9th, 2010 Posted in Arts, Ireland, Travel No Comments

A friend’s recent wedding saw us hastening to the Wesht county for some fun and frolics, and delighted I was to discover the jewel of the West coast.

Galway city was alive, with people flocking in every direction around its small centre. Musicians and buskers seemed to be around every corner, outside every second brightly coloured shopfront. Kids with their parents stood in huddles around fire-eaters and acrobats. Groups of college-age people sat around the Spanish arch (a wise young man gave me this sage advice about the arch: ‘It’s not for lookin’, it’s for experiencing.’) in the evening sunshine. An older gentleman sang Johnny Cash with a vigour that the man himself would have been impressed with. People spilled and poured from every pub available. The craic was to be had.

A girl in my early twenties, you might well be surprised that this past weekend was my first experience of Galway city. Admittedly, friends of mine from university had always boasted the best weekends there, the most fun-filled RAG weeks. I myself associated Galway with Connemara and the Gaeltacht, a portly bean an tí and sodden walks to and from the Coláiste with the rest of the cailiní from my house. I came late to the party, but I wanted to stay ’til the end.
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Big Bang Big Boom – the evolution and end of life

July 20th, 2010 Posted in Arts No Comments

BIG BANG BIG BOOM – the new wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Blu’s “Big Bang Big Boom” is a spectacular stop-motion graffiti animation depicting “an unscientific point of view on the beginning and evolution of life … and how it could probably end.”

Direction and animation by BLU. Production and distribution by ARTSH. Sountrack by ANDREA MARTIGNONI.

Crafts Council picks PR team

July 5th, 2010 Posted in Arts, Public Relations No Comments

The Crafts Council of Ireland has appointed PR consultancy MD Media, in association with D’Arcy Marketing and PR, to handle its public relations for the year ahead. The contract includes running the campaign for the 2011 Year of Craft, marking the 40th anniversary of the organisation.

The objective of the year is to promote the craft industry and to create public awareness of the wealth of craft that Ireland has to offer both at home and abroad.

It will also include looking after PR activities for the Craft Council’s Christmas and other retail campaigns, its education and training initiatives, and corporate activities. MD Media was established in March by former Irish Times journalist Miriam Donohoe.

‘Your Heineken, Your City’

June 15th, 2010 Posted in Arts, Competitions, Viral No Comments

For the first time ever, Irish Heineken fans can personalise their very own bottles of beer on http://www.heineken.ie. To celebrate the launch of ‘Your Heineken’, Heineken is using buildings in Cork, Galway and Dublin as blank canvases to showcase local creative talent.

People from around the country are invited to take inspiration from the great cities of Ireland and express what the city means to them by designing their own, city inspired, Heineken bottle. The winning designer will then be given their very own part of Dublin, Cork or Galway, to recreate their design on a landmark building in one of the three major cities.

Log onto facebook.com/Heineken to design your own creation or browse the entries and vote for your favourite.

Bulmers’ Undergrowth campaign is berry innovative

May 18th, 2010 Posted in Advertising, Arts, Branding, Great Ideas, Latest Trends, Outdoor Ads No Comments

Bulmers has kicked off an extensive above-the-line campaign to promote its recently launched berry cider variant with the completion of live art installations at two sites in Dublin and one in Cork by the Secret Wars cultural movement.

The Bulmers Berry ‘Undergrowth Movement’ outdoor campaign, which includes bus sides, isites and ambient elements, features three concepts – Hair, Tattoo and Vine – all carrying the strapline ‘An Undergrowth Movement’.

Tech (Bulmers) The concepts were created by advertising group Young Euro RSCG and creative design agency Monorex in conjunction with their artists, as an interpretation of an undergrowth movement.

(The top billboard can be found on Botanic Road in Glasnevin and was done by Kilkenny artist and friend of Mediacontact.ie Mick Minogue, and the bottom imagine was completed by London artist DiscoTeck and can be found in Terenure.)

Also, as part of the campaign the lads at Monorex and DiscoTeck have created “An Undergrowth Movement’ viral which stars UK beat box champion ‘Reeps One’.
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A serious case of them ones and those ones

May 17th, 2010 Posted in Arts, Video Interviews 1 Comment

Thousands of people descended upon Dublin’s Temple Bar yesterday to celebrate all things Donegal, for Donegal Live, a day-long promotion of the county as a tourist attraction.

Being a Donegal woman myself I went along to join the fun and support my county.

A stage was set up at Meeting House Square to host a variety of music and dance including traditional Irish music, ceilí dancing, set dancing, Irish dancing, as well as country music and folk music.

There were performances by the Donegal Tenors, Mickey-Joe Harte, violin trio Fidil, Altan and Marie Brennan from Clannad made hairs stand on-end with a beautiful rendition of W.B. Yeats’ Down by the Sally Gardens.

There was juggling, face painting, balloon modelling, impromptu comhaltas music, and marching bands.

Indoor shows took place in The New Theatre behind Connolly’s bookshop, which included extracts from Brian Friel’ s Philadelphia Here I Come and The Faith Healer.

Everyone basked in the summer sun while munching on oysters with Guinness, and enjoying the best of Donegal talent. The Donegal brogue was everywhere to be heard, and there was plenty Gaeilge in the air.

There were also thousands of prizes to be won including weekend and midweek breaks, holiday cottage rentals in rural idylls, and Aer Arann flights, but I’m sitting tight for my John McGinley Coaches ticket!

Exhibition stands also showcased what Donegal has to offer such as golf resorts, beautiful sandy beaches, equestrian centres, marine and angling sports, hillwalking, a taste of the Gaeltacht, top of the range hotels, and the stunning Glenveagh National Park, to name just a few things.

The scenery really is heaven on earth up there, so if your holiday plans abroad are scuppered by the troublesome Eyjafjallajokull, why not head to the north-west for a staycation in the hills of Donegal.

I caught up with the delectable Mickey-Joe Harte as he came off stage for a quick chat (and a hug, she gushes) about what he’s up to at the minute and what his favourite thing about Donegal is.

Evelyn Cullen

ACDC vs Iron Man 2: Projection Mapping

May 10th, 2010 Posted in Arts, Film, Great Ideas, Latest Trends, Music, Projection Mapping 1 Comment

It seems projection mapping is becoming the next big thing and the guys from Seeper are right at the front of it. After just completing a great project for Nokia, Seeper worked with Sony to help promote the new ACDC / Iron Man 2 soundtrack at Rochester Castle.

What makes this so special, is the building is actually an old castle and with that comes all sorts of architectural elements and design challenges. Once you see the quality of the 3D graphics being projected, you’ll be wowed by the creative use of the building & the way it all came together.

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