Leaf Work (Derrigimlagh) 2020

Leaf Work (Derrigimlagh) 2020 presents a single female figure clad from head to foot in green Irish spring leaves. This cloaking of the figures recalls the pan European tradition of the Green Man, a mysterious but widely distributed forest entity relating to Spring celebrations and now principally known through wood carvings within medieval churches. Animated by celebrated dancer Finola Cronin the leaf covered figure in the work slowly walks a circle upon the empty Connemara landscape across night and day and over the solar year.
To achieve the work Finola, wearing a motion capture suit, walked, danced and performed in a studio setting. This series of motions was captured and converted into data. In time motion matching and neural networks generate the ongoing infinite choreography for the character we see in the work. The performances were developed in close dialogue with movement analyst Esther Balfe, alongside input from Finola herself.
The work speaks of the infinite flows of energy that animate our landscapes and societies but here the choreography centers on the representation of environmental stress. This is not a bucolic or peaceful scene. This language provides the core emotional temperature of this experimental work. An engagement aligned with dance, the seasons themselves and the food and light that sustain us all.
Leaf Work (Derrigimlagh) 2020 was commissioned by Galway International Arts Festival for Galway2020, European Capital of Culture.


Producer: Werner Poetzelberger
Programmer: Helmut Bressler
CG Character Modelling: Max Loegler
CG Character Skinning: Arx Anima
Landscape development: Werner Poetzelberger
Movement Analyst: Esther Balfe
Dancer: Finola Cronin
Drone Photography: The Drone Guys, Sligeachfilms
RGB Aerial Photography, Digital Terrain/Surface Model: Bluesky Geospatial Limited
Oaks : Ailbhe Gerrard / Brookfield Farm
Line Producer (Galway) Declan Gibbons
Line Producer (Vienna) Caroline Ecker
3D Realtime Engine: Unigine
Installation development: Jakob Illera / Inseq Design

Exhibitions

Leaf Work at Galway International Arts Festival , 2020

Located in Derrigimlagh Bog in Connemara, Leaf Work was presented as a 8m x 8m LED wall, set into a mirror polished pavillion which reflects the local site. Derrigimlagh Bog was the site of transmission of the first transatlantic radio signal from the Marconi station in 1907 and the site of Alcock and Brown’s first transatlantic plane crossing in 1919. In Leaf Work the character performs a lament for the effects of these human advances on the non-human world and its relentless suffering. She walks a simple circle, a choreography based on the position of the sun. The work is a companion piece to Corn Work shown at Claddagh Quay September 2020. 

Galway Internatioal Arts Festival
Derrigimlagh Bog, Connemara, Co. Galway
28 August-18 September 2021 | 9am-9pm
https://www.giaf.ie/tours/mirror-pavilion

Research

2020 · LEAF WORK AT GALWAY INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL
Photographer : Ross Kavanagh
2020 · LEAF WORK AT GALWAY INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL
Photographer : Ross Kavanagh
2020 · LEAF WORK AT GALWAY INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL
Photographer : Ross Kavanagh
2020 · LEAF WORK AT GALWAY INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL
Photographer : Ross Kavanagh
2020 · LEAF WORK AT GALWAY INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL
Photographer : Ross Kavanagh
2020 · LEAF WORK AT GALWAY INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL
Photographer : Ross Kavanagh
2020 · LEAF WORK AT GALWAY INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL
Photographer : Ross Kavanagh
Leaf figure development. Craftsperson: Gerardine Wisdom. Photographer: Max Loegler. 
Poitier’s Stall with Green man or foliage mask. Cathedral of Saint-Pierre in Poitiers Photograph © Stuart Whatling
Dancer Finola Cronin performs leaf covered figure, wearing a motion capture suit. Her movements are sent wirelessly to the prototype character on the screen and recorded for use in the final simulation.   

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