Loitering Theatre /

info@loiteringtheatre.org


2013,

Streislands<br>
Streislands<br>
Streislands<br>
Streislands<br>

Streislands


Three channel video and audio installation. 4 mins looped.
Commissioned by The Performance Corporation for the Big House Festival at Castletown House.

Barbra's agent fought hard for the ticket price of EUR551.75.
Her booker thought a rounded EUR551 set a more sophisticated tone. 'Let's get the seventy-five' the agent said. He pushed harder. Pushed like he meant it. It was a hellish atmosphere in which to try and enjoy a concert. I don't remember much of the first half, I was so distracted. The two screens on either side of the vast stage holding the orchestra were, of course, barely visible in daylight, the sound wasn't enveloping enough to enable me to feel connected, and I might as well have been watching a television a hundred feet away. And so, classics that have meant a lot to me in my life like People and Evergreen passed me by.

Streislands is a site specific work inspired by the near-riots that broke out among the Irish monied classes at a Barbra Streisand concert in the grounds of Castletown House. From within a very different festival environment the work examines our local engagement with imported Culture Industry product; placing Irish constructs of taste against the background of the new money neo-classical architecture of Castletown House.

Streislands also navigates the continuously shifting boundaries between public and private zones involved in the documentation of our lives across social networks. The work includes found youtube footage of fights and transgressive behavior from other Irish mass entertainment contexts. In a similar manner to its inclusion on youtube, this footage is included without the explicit permission of its subjects. All footage of Barbra Streisand is also used and repurposed without permission. Streislands does not however include a photo of Barbra's house in Malibu (home of the Streisand Effect).

Original composition by Philip Stewart

RT. 4mins


15/16