Aishling's art work is so organic and unique, so giving to have her around - Minerva Iglesias
The Wish You Were Here project arose out of a personal challenge to create work while on the move in 2011/2012; with no studio base or place to create. It was born on route on an overland trip over one year from Greece to Azerbaijan and is focused on the process of journey rather than in a final destination. This project is a collaboration with Joan Bayon Fontana. Daily life, different cultures and personal experiences of them are the main themes of the work. In essence it is a documentation and presentation of varying aspects of foreign cultures using varying methods of sensory engagement. The audience is invited to connect to each land visited through language, daily life objects, photography and audio recordings.
The installation was an active space for the exchange of ideas & experiences between the public and creators, a crossroad where both worlds met. It was alive and dynamic with the public actively engaging: touching, hearing, seeing, immersing themselves and responding. The public was invited to respond by entering in a dialogue with the artists by sending them postcards of their thoughts, so creating links and new relations. Time was spent on the overland trip volunteering in small communities and so this installation was born out of the same spirit of interaction and exchange.
Another aspect of this work was to show, rather than the differences, the similarities and connections between countries and cultures. There are connections, many cultures have been in contact for centuries and this became more evident as the journey continued.Traveling overland provided a wider framework from which to assimilate sights, sounds, interactions and experiences. It takes you through a more conscious transition from one place to another; making it easier to note cultural aspects that change completely and ones which remain similar or the same.
The aim was to become hunter gatherers and the priority to visit and see what awoke interest, while gathering and editing material along the way.Everything observed in interest which may have been different, peculiar, the same as, curious or common went to the basket. A recording device and cameras were carried habitually never knowing when something interesting worth documenting would occur. As the exploration of each culture ended, time was taken to reflect and digest, allowing for a clearer examination of experiences there. Never taking notes on route, texts were always written in reflection, comprising only of experiences which stayed in mind, this was the filter used to condense adventures. This exhibition exists now only in this digital form