What is art and what is not? Who has the final say - artists? Critics? Curators? How do you know when something is good or bad? Why is Triskel's Gallery 1 exhibition space empty? Why is a large sheet of black polythene the only exhibit? Why did the artists smash a great big hole in the gallery wall? Why did the Triskel let them? Who is going to pay to have it fixed? Is this a joke? Why all the questions?
Well, for the first time ever I very nearly walked out of an exhibition with the firm belief that I could not write anything about it. Discussing it with other visitors and staff at the gallery proved in many respects to be the most interesting aspect of my visit. But then, that's the point. Conceptual art is about ideas, and ideas are meant to provoke questioning, discussion and debate.
The artists behind this holein-the-wall operate under the umbrella of World Art Alliance - an obscure collection of conceptual artists which devises projects using the Internet to formulate and discuss strategies. The collaborators for 50 Fathoms are Jorge Gomes, Jan Bensusan, Penille Dumas, Declain Kennedy, Hitomi Takahashi and John Reardon. The concept, according to the literature, appears to be based around the fact that Cork has a deep-water harbour and container-shipping facilities - but this fact does not appear to connect directly with the exhibition itself.
Avant-garde, iconoclastic, anti-establishment, self-referential, ironic, sarcastic, humorous, boring, fraudulent, thought-provoking, exciting. Take your pick. I'm sitting on the fence.
Runs until April 26th
