English
David McDermott and Peter McGough could care less about smart phones and the hunt of the rest of the world to get the latest of everything. McDermott was quoted: “I’ve seen the future and I am not going.” This probably best sums up their dandyish attitude to escape the dullness of life by keeping things how they used to be. But not to be misunderstood, they don’t claim that everything used to be better back in the day, it just looked better.
The duo met in New York City in the early 80s and back then the East Village was a dangerous neighbourhood where the two of them walked around in top hats and frocks. The spirit of past centuries also wafts through their aesthetic constructions: rural idyll instead of concrete, silent films instead of high-definition TV, a photo camera from the 1910s instead of a digital camera.
In the early 90s they moved into a house outside of Dublin and when you pass the threshold you feel like being in a different century, there is no central heating, no computer and the phone is from the 1920s.
On the 20th of October the Kunsthalle in Viena opened an exhibition of McDermott and McGough’s work which essentially is a picturesque portrait of their home in Dublin. The exhibition is titled after the address 26 Sandymount Avenue. Images of the house in Dublin will be presented which have been produced after a historical printing process (cyanotype) which gives all the images a melancholic dreamy shade of blue. Apart from the images of the house the exhibition will feature a series of short films, in one of which model Agyness Dyen is the protagonist.
By the way, travelling in between the US and Ireland they prefer to take the Queen Elisabeth instead of a plane and for the opening of the exhibition they will arrive by train.
Whichever way you choose to get to Viena, the best option in accommodation is renting apartments in Vienna. You have time to see the exhibition until the 5th of December. For more information: http://www.kunsthallewien.at/en/?
