William Bock

A Q U A R E B A R N Part I - Straw Alongside my commissions and various projects, a labour of love has been building a new collaborative arts studio with my husband Andrew on the West Cork coast. Any spare time has been spent working on this project which might explain where I’ve been over the last 3 years! I have started a Substack - Bockworks- where I am sharing more depth aspects of my interdisciplinary arts practice. This February is the first of a series of writings that dives into the ethos and experiences behind myself and Andrew building the studio. Follow the link in my bio to read my Substack I’m starting to find an alternative ‘space’ online on Substack to share the process behind projects and to dive a bit deeper into what motivates me as an artist. If you would like to stay on as a subscriber, you’ll hear about my collaborations, projects, events, curious one-off or special edition artworks. As you might already know my artistic work is interdisciplinary, nature centred and often socially engaged and there will be also an opportunity for you to support this unfolding work. Creating meaningful relationships with communities and the environments they inhabit is an often slow and unpredictable journey. The funding landscape for artists working in this way is precarious. Regular, small donations create a vital web of support for me to continue to sustain and share this work I do. Whether you support as a paid subscriber or are just curious to drop in here for a peek, you’ll get a more nuanced perspective on what I’m working on. I think online Substack might be somewhere to build a meaningful connection with you guys until we meet in person, which I hope is soon. Let’s see how it goes. Míle buíochas for all your attention and support

M A Y D A I L Y 1 / 31 This is the first of 31 experimental films I’m making everyday this month and sharing exclusively on substack - here bockworks.substack.com Paid subscribers on substack will be able to see them first and free subscribers at the end of the month. Come along for the ride and support this emerging work. love Bockworks

M A Y D A Y ! M A Y D A Y ! M A Y D A Y ! Dark Rooms, Distress Signals, and rebirthing the May Daily series on substack - Read the full piece on Substack I started my May Daily project back in the midst of the first 2020 lockdown in West Cork. I posted one image a day for the month of May and each image was shared on social media on the same day I took it. All the images were taken by me using a tripod and the camera’s 10 second self timer with very little or no post production editing. It was a daily ritual and offering for friends and social media followers during the confusing time of Covid. Join me as a substack subscriber or consider becoming a pd subscriber as I deep dive into this year’s May Daily experiment. 📷 May Daily 4 2020 William Bock May Daily 31 2024 William Bock Place de l’Europe Gare Saint Lazare 1932 Henri Cartier-Bresson

. . S O C I A L S C U L P T U R E I’ve just posted a new Substack - link in bio Part two of -A Quare Barn - dives into the contemporary art term ‘social sculpture’ and how it informs the ethos and process behind building our new Straw Barn Art space in West Cork Link in bio

Ocean & Environment DISPATCH #1: Of Lobster Pots and Wind Farms By @racklette Link in bio! Or see creativeplaceswci.ie/oceanandenvironment The first essay of the Ocean & Environment project is now live: a response by writer in residence Rachel Donnelly to our group research trip to Sherkin over Brigid's Weekend. "Though they're in their early stages, what the projects have in common is their focus on the hyperlocal; the (sometimes buried) knowledge of the island landscapes and the relationship islanders have with them - forgotten rights of way, inshore fishing routes, almost-lost Irish place names that document embodied experience of the landscape ('the falling down place')." This is the first in a series of written reflections that will follow the Ocean & Environment projects as they unfold over the coming year, connecting the themes of the project across the islands to wider questions of how to build resilience in the face of climate change. The Ocean & Environment artists are Samuel Arnold Keane, William Bock, Eoin Heaney, Saoirse Higgins and Louise Manifold. This essay is a commission supported by Cork County Council's Creative Places West Cork Islands programme, under its Ocean & Environment initiative, With thanks to the West Cork Islands Creative Places Partnership for their continued support. Cover image: Louise Manifold

T r e a d i n g t h e L i m i t s I’m so proud of my husband @andrew7coombs for his new and very moving dance show devised, directed and choreographed with 8 wise women some of whom have never danced on stage before. I had so much fun photographing the show and supporting the talented production team @taro.gra @slice.of.light.design this last week.

S H E R K I N G R E E N R O P E Thank you @bere_island_arts_festival for exhibiting our artwork this weekend. I was delighted to show the film alongside rhe physical 40 metres of rope made @thesherkinisland with over 60 islanders and Ukrainian residents. The rope’s length directly reflects the span of time we spent working on it together in 2023 As part of the Bere Island festival I ran session where we started to make a new rope for Bere from harvested grasses. This little festival is very special because of its incredible island location but most importantly because of the production team including @maryksullivanart and island volunteers who make it so welcoming for artists and audience alike. Film Clips 1. @bockworks in transit on Sherkin Island 2. Sherkin Green Rope installed in Old Forge on Bere Island 3. Sherkin Green Rope & Film installed on Bere Island 4. Making of SGR film with Dan @sherkinnorthshore , Kristina @dyslextinax , Silke @s.ilk.e_b , Hammond 5. Making of SGR film with Artem and Paula The Sherkin Green Rope was supported by @cpwestcorkislands @corkcountycouncil @artscouncilireland @thesherkinisland

D O N I E ‘ S L A N D It’s been a brilliant weekend sharing this installation @IMMA for the Earth Rising Festival amongst the incredible Dinnseanchas artists, production team (shout out to @davidteevan )and fellow Earth Rising artists. Loads of chats, insights and all round talent plus good energy. Donie’s Land is an audio visual installation inside a working jeep. It is a threshold between Dublin and the Borlin Valley and home of 84 year old Donal O’ Conor (Donie) and his family. Donie has worked this mountain farm for much of his life and has witnessed radical changes in his lifetime. Donie remembers the old Irish names for the rocks, streams, hollows passed down to him through generations. They also include the fields that he and previous custodians dug by hand out of the bog and rock. Myself alongside fellow Dinnseanchas artist @roisindebuitlear , Donie and Denis recorded, mapped and attempted to translate the Irish names for Donie’s mountain farm. The names are first and foremost practical like signage but speak of an intimate relationship with nature, stories and hard labour. This is a work in progress and by no means definitive, yet it reflects on the urgency to preserve this fast disappearing local vernacular knowledge while considering how we might name our landscape anew for today. Huge thanks for the jeep @toyota.liffey.valley and as usual a massive thanks to making this all happen @hometreecharity @creativeireland @immaireland @taniabanotti moving jeep vid @jtudella

. M I R R O R W A L K Mirror Walk is a new film I will be showing on the giant screen @immaireland during Earth Rising Festival this weekend. It is one of four artistic responses from my time spent in the hill communities of West Cork as part of the Dinnseanchas Project - sharing alongside the fabulous work by fellow Dinnseanchas artists ‘When I first met Seán Cronin, a native of the Borlin Valley, he told me of an old man back in the early last century whose dying wish was for his body to be returned to his home place at Gougane Barra, the next valley east. It was said that his body was carried by hand over the mountain. Throughout my visits to the Borlin and Coomhola valleys that image and story stayed with me. That profound belonging to a home place, the labour involved in living (and dying) in this landscape, and the deep loss felt for an older culture departing. Led by Seán Cronin and carrying a full length mirror, a small group of us retread an ancient route over the mountain to meet a woman who has mapped all the old Irish places in the valley. You can read more about this journey and the Dinnseanchas project in the latest edition of @holyshow.ie magazine @immaireland @creativeireland @hometreecharity @rayofoghlu @holyshow.ie #jenniferahern #Aaronbean #seancronin

U P L A N D L I P - S Y N C H I N G Maeve speaks with Seán voice Upland Lip-Synching is a performative artwork that engages with the stories of the often-silent voices of rural communities. Next weekend @immaireland Earth Rising I’ll be hosting a workshop using recordings of conversations I’ve made with older generation West Cork hill farmers like Seán Cronin among others. The process encourages deep listening through pathos, humour and shared play - Restoring lines of communication between the rural and the urban, between climate change and cultural loss. Willam Bock’s work forms part of the @hometreecharity Dinnseanchas project Dinnseanchas is one of four projects selected by Irish Museum of Modern Art @immaireland from a national open call for the Earth Rising 2025.  @immaireland @hometreecharity @creativeireland #maevestone

. U P L A N D L I P - S Y N C H I N G Laura speaks with Teddy’s voice Upland Lip-Synching is a performative artwork that engages with the stories of the often-silent voices of rural communities. Next weekend @immaireland Earth Rising I’ll be hosting a workshop using recordings of conversations I’ve made with older generation West Cork hill farmers like Teddy Cronin among others. The process encourages deep listening through pathos, humour and shared play - Restoring lines of communication between the rural and the urban, between climate change and cultural loss. Willam Bock’s work forms part of the @hometreecharity Dinnseanchas project Dinnseanchas is one of four projects selected by Irish Museum of Modern Art @immaireland from a national open call for the Earth Rising 2025.  @immaireland @hometreecharity @lauraevelync @creativeireland

G A L L F H E A B H R Á N Wild Angelica Each of the five rafts in the FLOTILLA art installation comprises of a native plant that thrives in river environments cleaning, protecting and nourishing the land and its inhabitants. The artwork is part of TESTING THE WATERS, an ecology and arts project funded by the Research Ireland Discover programme. It is led by the Co-Centre for Climate + Biodiversity + Water in partnership with Westport Tidy Towns Local Authority Waters Programme @researchireland @climatecocentre @westporttidytowns25 📹by @versacnc