Fortnight Publications Ltd.

Quiz AnswersAuthor(s): Robert JohnstoneSource: Fortnight, No. 270 (Feb., 1989), p. 29Published by: Fortnight Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25551857 .

Accessed: 28/06/2014 14:03

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

Fortnight Publications Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Fortnight.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 91.213.220.138 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 14:03:53 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

q | Big Head by Lorcan O'Byrne?sinister presence

BASED IN Berlin is an exhibition of paintings by two Irish artists and a German artist, all resident

in Berlin. The two paintings by Gerard Cunningham, Ku Damn all stars, which greeted the eye

immediately upon entering Belfast's Octagon Gallery, are what any viewer with an historical vision

of Berlin might expect. Foetal figures of garish pink throng in the street, their bodies dissected by

suspenders, hypodermic needles and other paraphernalia of the demi-monde. They jostle around the

U-bahn exits and beneath the neon signs, creating a vision that falls somewhere between Grocz satire

and an expressionist nightmare. The initial gasp of recognition, 'Aha, Berlin', is answered by the

question: before what image does the Berliner stop and think 'Aha, Belfast'.

Despite being valuable as works distinctly located in Berlin, it was interesting that they were not

typical of those on show. The works of Lorcan O'Byrne, Head (oil on canvas) and Four Heads (oil on paper), all used the idea of a head with various grim facial characterisations, placed on a

background of a geometrical pattern. As one concentrated upon the crude features of the head the

lines or waves in the background began to shift, creating an optical illusion of movement. The

blurred faces and backgrounds have a sinister presence, suggesting TV 'talking heads' emerging on

to screens where there is otherwise only electrical interference.

Marlis Bergen presented along one wall an untitled work. Created from oil on paper it differed

from the O'Byrne in being stapled directly to the wall rather than first being attached to a frame. This

lent it a quality of fragility and gave it the status of a fragment rather than a whole piece. This echoed

the work itself, which was not bound together by any dynamic design or motif but which contained

elements which could be woven together by the viewer's gaze as it ran across the painted surface.

It was initially unremarkable but, viewing the other exhibits, one constantly caught parts of the

Bergen in the corner of one's eye?it gradually became compelling. The blocks of colour in the centre of the piece came together momentarily to produce a city-scape

of houses, alley-ways and staircases. This vision sustained itself for only a second before

evaporating into the abstract pattern. The psychological or emotional impact of this pattern was

interrupted by sharp arrows of paint which tended to set in train another set of visions?commuters

in blue rushing from the pink precinct, a boot, another staircase. The work in abstract seemed to offer

us the possibility to experience ourselves as individuals, defined and whole, and as something more

than individuals?undefined, fragments of something larger, with greater potential and greater risk.

The physical length of the work made it a special experience. It enabled us to move in from a

distance where we commanded the whole work, albeit indistinctly. Closer towards the work we were

able to focus more clearly on the surface but lost sight of a large area of the work around us?

becoming part of the work rather than viewing it from splendid isolation. This effect could be true

of any large abstract work, but Bergen succeeds through her ability to modulate the colours of the

surface so that our eyes are used to draw us in, making the process by which we physically

experience a sense of being 'part of and 'separate from' appear inevitable.

35 Derriaghy Rd, Lisburn PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS & PRINTS

by DIANA OXLADE

SAT 11th FEB - SAT 25th FEB

Open daily 2.00-5.30 pm Closed Sundays

NEW IRELAND GROUP

Take a step in shaping a radical new Ireland by joining the New Ireland

Group. Students and young people particularly welcome.

Ring Belfast 629136 or write to NIG, Fountain Centre, Belfast BT1 6ET for details of membership and meetings.

SPECIALLY COMMISSIONED BUST OF IRISH SOCIALIST LEADER

JAMES CONNOLLY LIMITED EDITION

STONECAST FINISH 9" high, 2 lbs ?25 (inc p&p)

No cash. Cheque/ ̂ HSB^V^H PO payable to ^^^jj^B

Celtic Arts & Crafts ^flg4_________________i 27 Ballyraine Pk I^^^^H

Letterkenny H 4___________________H Co Donegal, Eire H ^^^^^^H Allow 28 days for

Hk^^^^fl delivery B__L__^____^_________!

QUIZ ANSWERS 1. John Hume and Gerry Adams

2. Acceptable Levels, the Channel Four film postponed on January 28th, 1988

3. Sean MacBride, with the MacBride principles 4. John Huston, whose first film was The Maltese Falcon, his last The Dead 5. Pte Ian Thain, released after 26 months of a life sentence 6. Ravi Tikkoo (the 'Ultimate Dream') 7. Sir John Hermon, who denied he had told John Stalker he knew his mother

was a Catholic 8. The founding of Dublin 9. Senator Joe Kennedy, on his April visit 10. Hazelwood College, the integrated secondary granted maintained status 11. Mickey Rourke's character in A Prayer for the Dying 12. Douglas Celicia, whose photos of the Gibraltar shootings were altered by

the authorities before being returned, with ?10,000 compensation 13. Brian Friel, in his play Making History 14. In Derry, when two people entering a missing neighbour's house were

killed by a booby-trap bomb 15. The Gibraltar Coroners Court, rejecting a call by the lawyers for the

relatives of the deceased that it should dismiss the jury

Robert Johnstone's Christmas quiz caused a lot of pencil chewing. Top, with 17 correct answers, was Clem McCartney of Limavady, who wins two free party tickets.

16. The Department of Education, found guilty of sex discrimination in transfers at 11-plus

17. William Faraday testified in Gibraltar that a bomb could have been detonated by radio from anywhere on the Rock

18. The taking of DNA samples was permitted by the Criminal Justice Act 19. George Bernard Shaw, in Michael Holroyd's biography of him

20. Nora Barnacle, in Nora: a biography of Nora Joyce by Brenda Maddox 21. Seamus Heaney, in The Government of the Tongue 22. The mayor of New York, Ed Koch, who saw a "positive role" for the

army while in the north?but in New York called for its withdrawal 23. Van Morrison and the Chieftains in Irish Heartbeat 24. The three southerners convicted of conspiracy to murder Tom King 25. Stewart Parker, who died in November 26. Plastic bullets, whose use by the Israelis was condemned by the junior

minister William Waldegrave 27. Margaret Thatcher, when she returned to the Grand Hotel, Brighton, for

her party's conference 28. U2, whose latest album is Rattle and Hum 29. Tom Paulin, in The Hillsborough Script 30. Medbh McGuckian, in On Ballycastle Beach

Fortnight February 29

This content downloaded from 91.213.220.138 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 14:03:53 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions