Hill of Bones

video installation and exhibition, Roscommon Arts Centre, 2013

Hill of Bones is an exercise in cross-dimensional movement that employs video as a means of attempting the translation of this world onto another wavelength. The artists use the camera to trace passages through space that then become folded into the video image, suggesting perhaps the transference elsewhere of both place and body. With the sincere curiosity of tourists, Clinton and Moriarty investigate Roscommon’s real and apocryphal histories and endeavour to create a reflective response to its landscape. Starting with a retreat to an unassuming crannóg, Clinton and Moriarty perform an escape to and from nature. These man-made islands, once used as places of refuge, rebellion and revelry, now lie quiet and still. However, the word ‘crannóg’, literally meaning ‘young tree’, describes their potential for reactivation as well as their timeless perpetuity. Using simple techniques during filming to achieve different effects, the artists have not manipulated the footage or sounds in any way during post production. The video attempts to connect the gallery to the world outside, emphasising the physical and historical depth of place through evocative images and mesmeric noise. Discover the eerie, lost island! Behold the fascinating, natural sinkhole! Marvel at the mysterious Hill of Bones!