"Should We Go Public"
Conversation with Families, Galway '09
Interestingly, it was the families themselves, not the artist/scientist /curators or cultural institutions who identified, discussed, and decided how and why their private experiences should be extended into the public.
From Private to Public
On the final day of Galway "09, was a collective discussion. between McGuinness, Malone and The Lived Lives Families was held..This was the first time that the families had met. All the family members who attended the collective discussions gathered in the hospitality room, with the consent forms on the wall in the background, as per protocol. After opening remarks it was reiterated to the families that the next step was entirely their decision. They decided collectively to make the project available to a wider public in a particular way: that it be contained by four curatorial strategies.
1-The works were to be mediated by the Lived Lives, to the public, so that they were ‘not just a walk off the street exhibition’.
2-There should be ‘bereavement counsellors on site’ so that ‘people leave no worse than they came in’.
3-Children under 16 should be accompanied by an adult, ‘children under 16 don’t need to see this. it’s too powerful and sad’.
4-Finally it was decided that every lost life should be included in any future exhibition so as not ‘to privilege one life over another’ (
Interestingly, it was the families themselves, not the artist and/or curators or cultural institutions who identified, discussed, and decided how and why their private experiences should be extended into the public. These families have been intrinsic to the art practice in terms of model design from its conception as an idea, as co-creators as it took physical form, and now as co-producers articulating ways of bringing their private experience of loss to the wider public audience. Since then the work has extended into the public always with the informed permission, active involvement, encouragement and support of the participating families.
1-The works were to be mediated by the Lived Lives, to the public, so that they were ‘not just a walk off the street exhibition’.
2-There should be ‘bereavement counsellors on site’ so that ‘people leave no worse than they came in’.
3-Children under 16 should be accompanied by an adult, ‘children under 16 don’t need to see this. it’s too powerful and sad’.
4-Finally it was decided that every lost life should be included in any future exhibition so as not ‘to privilege one life over another’ (
Interestingly, it was the families themselves, not the artist and/or curators or cultural institutions who identified, discussed, and decided how and why their private experiences should be extended into the public. These families have been intrinsic to the art practice in terms of model design from its conception as an idea, as co-creators as it took physical form, and now as co-producers articulating ways of bringing their private experience of loss to the wider public audience. Since then the work has extended into the public always with the informed permission, active involvement, encouragement and support of the participating families.
