A Bad Day for Painting in a Good Way // 2008

A Bad Day for Painting in a Good Way // 2008

Visit 2008 // Temple Bar Gallery & Studios // Dublin



A Bad Day for Painting in a Good Way


I agreed to open my studio as part of the Visit 2008 open studio day in Dublin. You know the old adage about pleasing the public. I didn’t want them coming into my space and photographing me like a monkey, talking shit for 6 hours and showing half-cocked work.

The plan was to make a tiny studio just inside the threshold of my very large studio. I made a one-armed puppet artist with basting brush in hand. A hidden security camera allowed observation of the public. A PA system allowed an audio barrage direct instructions, grunts slurs and generally friendly abuse to be directed at the public. It was surprising that a lot of viewers thought it was a prerecording, even though they were been engaged in a direct conversation.