GUBU
Garvan Gallagher
4th - 14th February
Exhibition Opening Thurs 4th Feb at 7.30pm
GUBU is an acronym created in response to words spoken by the Irish Taoiseach, Charles Haughey in 1982. GUBU stands for Grotesque, Unbelievable, Bizarre and Unprecedented. In describing a double-murder that was linked directly to the Irish Attorney General at the time, Haughey attempted to distance himself from the ?asco and described the event as “a bizarre happening, an unprecedented situation, a grotesque situation, an almost unbelievable mischance". GUBU has since become a more general term, much like the American Watergate, for scandal or political disrepute in Irish politics. Made in various locations around Limerick, GUBU of 1982 reappears in the current climate of 2009. This project began as a personal projection of my own experience with the Irish economy and Irish politics. I adopt the persona of Gubu the clown, who explores the new landscape of Ireland. Gubu stumbles in search for something through desolate and destructive landscapes. Confused, dazed and in a hurry to rid himself of the surroundings he inhabits, he re?ects on how he got himself into this mess and how he will
get himself out. In the making of this work and as research
for Gubu, I asked gallery visitors to anonymously write a note on how the recession had directly impacted them. They were asked to drop the note in a Ballot Box, wrapped with newspaper headlines. These recession cards express varying responses, from the negative to the positive aspects of the recession. Began out of my own frustrations with the economy, this dissatisfaction, echoed in the participants’ Ballot Box responses, is unexpectedly balanced with refreshing expressions of acceptance, freedom, societal leveling and opportunity.
