THE WREN
"This film is a response to a year of being stuck online as an artist, and the disconnection from the performative exhibition and the aura surrounding installation. This is a response to the digital screen turning my art into nothing more than a few pixels on a screen. I longed to be outdoors and interact with space, aura, materiality, and the physical – and so I did."
The narrative follows research into the wren chases of St Stephen’s day in rural Ireland, following wrens and collecting money for their burials (not always, but traditionally the wren would be killed by young children through either being chased to exhaustion or stoned) – rather than a wren, this film will follow the resting of my ‘obituary’ box under a rag tree. You tie a rag for a purpose – whether to leave a memory behind, or to remember something – it is a recalling of mind, a catharsis, and a making of peace with suffering or a memory. The rag tree exists as a space of acknowledgement and a space to turn suffering into something unique and beautiful, with catharsis emerging from the physical tying of a memory, and walking away from it.
The Wren, a short film written and directed by Chloe Heffernan / Song written and produced by Samuel McKie and Chloe Heffernan / Vocals, banjo, mandolin and tin whistle by Samuel McKie /Editing and cinematography by Chloe Heffernan / Technical support and camerawork by Samuel McKie