The S-Collection
St. Mary’s Library, Shandon, Cork
Curated by Julie Forrester and Danny McCarthy, 2007

The S-Collection is a continuation of work began by Kelly and Stalling during their residency at Art Trail 2006, where they made a series of small-scale sonic and audiovisual interventions in the Shandon area, which culminated in a larger installation in The Chandelier Room of the Firkin Crane building.

The basement of St. Mary’s Library houses an S-Collection, a back collection of Irish and International authors whose surname begins with the letter ‘S’. Kelly and Stalling responded to the unique space of the archive, using its more or less untouched state, in an attempt to place a number of discreet sonic and visual installations/ interventions into its various sections and rooms.

“Introducing small audio and video interventions in between the shelves, unobtrusive but insistent sounds, discrete humming, sometimes distorted, the sound of a typewriter played through small loudspeakers turned downwards onto a stack of old newspapers, the rustle of an empty old cassette recorder, Kelly and Stalling create an atmosphere of suspension and reflection on the indissoluble time that works in this pre-existing environment, revealing the many nuances of a site specific language with great attention to detail."

Daniela Cascella, Blow Up Magazine 11/2007, p120. (translated from Italian)