Glas Journal: A Deep Mapping of Dún Laoghaire Harbour (2014-2016)

In Old Irish, the word glas is reserved for the indefinite shades of green, blue and silver that are present in the sea. This chromatic generosity was used as a marker for this alternative mapping project that crosses art with geography and was called Glas Journal.

Glas Journal was the first project in the context of artist-led participatory research practice that the Irish Research Council funded on a postdoctoral level for a period of two years, and it was mentored by Dr. Karen Till from the Geography Department at Maynooth University.

Glas Journal 2015 was based on 14 hand-size and hand-made artist books representing sequential harbour locations bordering the sea between the West and the East Pier of Dún Laoghaire Harbour. The books were made in my studio in the old Coast Guard Station, one of the spaces that shape this particular stretch of coastline. Each book slowly became layered with prints of old maps, historic photographs, quotes by maritime historian John de Courcy Ireland and other liquid mappings stained in ink and, often, becoming abstract paintings. To reflect the meanings of the harbour as a sanctuary and space of protection, a scenographic representation of the two harbour arms was set up in the former Mariners’ Church that now houses the Maritime Museum of Ireland. The installation also evoked the atmosphere of a place by the sea that has been shaped by loss, separation and nostalgia, and is trying to find new passages to cross the unknown. The journals were homed in this haven as if they were reference points on a maritime map.

Publication link: Deep Mapping