Ruairí O'Brien - Lecture on the Light and Literature sculpture dedicated to Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse 5" (Schlacthof 5) - 13. February 2015 - 19.30 - in Erich Kaestner Museum Dresden

Lecture: 

The making of the Light and Literature Sculpture “Slaughterhouse 5” (Schlacthof 5)

For the 70-year memorial services remembering the destruction of Dresden on the 13 February 1945.

Light and literature fuse in Ruairí O'Brien's memorial wall "Slaughterhouse Five" (Schlacthof 5 oder Der Kinderkreuzzug) which marks the original site of Kurt Vonnegut's famous anti-war novel of the same name in Building 1 of the city of Dresden’s trade fair complex. The American author - as well as his protagonist Billy Pilgrim - survived as a prisoner of war the bombing of Dresden in the basement of the former slaughterhouse on the night of 13 February 1945. Ruairí O'Brien’s multimedia light and literature sculpture enables visitors to experience the destruction and metamorphosis of the city of Dresden in the overlapping of drawings depicting scenes out of Vonnegut’s book and written quotations. The artful superposition of drawings, paintings, photographs and city map excerpts, embedded in a complex grid of wood and backlit Plexiglas provides the viewer with an Illustrative collage of the history of the city, the passing of time and Vonnegut's novel.

O'Brien has also included in his work quotations from Vonnegut’s contemporaries Viktor Klemperer and Erich Kaestner who also wrote about the destruction of the city they lived in.  

Venue: Erich Kaestner Museum, House of Literature Dresden

Time: 19.30

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Vortrag:

Die Entstehung der Licht- und Literaturskulptur "Slaughterhouse-Five" (oder "Schlacthof 5")

zum 70. Jahrestag der Zerstörung Dresdens

Ruairí O'Brien‘s Gedenkwand „Slaughterhouse Five“ oder "Schlacthof 5" markiert den Original-Schauplatz von Kurt Vonneguts gleichnamigem berühmtem Anti-Kriegs-Roman im Haus 1 der Messe Dresden. Im Kellergeschoss des damaligen Schlachthofs überlebte der amerikanische Autor - wie auch sein Protagonist Billy Pilgrim - als Kriegsgefangener den Bombenangriff auf Dresden. Anhand Ruairí O'Briens multimedialer Literatur- und Lichtskulptur kann der Betrachter die Metamorphose der Stadt Dresden erleben. Durch die kunstvolle Überlagerung von Zeichnungen, Malerei, Fotos und Stadtplanauszügen, eingebettet in ein komplexes Raster aus Holz und Plexiglas, werden verschiedene Zeitebenen der Stadtgeschichte und zugleich das Collagehafte des Romans sichtbar.

 Ort: Erich Kästner Museum, Literaturhaus Dresden

 Zeit: 19.30 Uhr

Traveling Micromuseum Exhibition dedicated to Erich Kaestner and designed by Ruairí O'Brien opens in Washington

Ruairì O'Brien, the architect and lighting designer, opened the Traveling Micromusem Exhibition dedicated to the famous German writer Erich Kaestner in Washington with a short talk last Tuesday night.
The exhibition system designed by O'Brien who is also Honorary President of the Erich Kaestner Museum in Dresden will travel to other cities in the USA over the next 6 months.
O'Briens concept is to present Erich Kaestner, who is famous for his children's books such as Emil and the Detective and film scripts such as Disney's "The parent trap" in the context of the four great cities in which he lived, Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin and Munich.
"The urban city life he portrays in his books such as “Emil and the detective” for children and “Fabian” for adults, both set in the Berlin of the 1930's, makes inspiring reading for architects and city planners, they are like blue prints of cities gone. Another example would be his autobiography "When I was a little boy" which describes the city of Dresden before the massive bombing and destruction that took place on 13 February 1945. When you have read this book, you realize that some things about a city are just not replaceable or are just impossible to reconstruct once gone. It is a reminder that war destroys forever full stop!" 

https://www.facebook.com/GermanyinUSA/photos/pb.350783226794.-2207520000.1415016620./10152469244921795/?type=3&theater

Thoughts - 25 Jähriges Jubiläum „Friedliche Revolution“ - Ruairí O'Brien

Ich war gestern in Leipzig.

Es war die 25jährige Feier der friedlichen Revolution.

Ich hatte einen langen Tag, Vorstandssitzung der Architektenkammer Sachsen in der Nikolaischule.

Draußen redete James Baker, seine amerikanische Stimme füllte durch das offene Fenster den historischen Raum.

Ich vergaß für einen Moment, warum ich da war.

Ich lief danach auf dem „Ring“ das Lichtfest ab.

Eine ruhige Stimmung herrschte.

Ich wählte ein italienisches Restaurant am Straßenrand aus und setzte mich hin.

„Wir sind das Volk“, schallte es aus den Lautsprecher nebenan.

Ich bestelle Spaghetti Bolognese und ein Glas Rotwein.

Ich saß, hörte und schaute.

Das Volk lief an mir vorbei.

Der Kellner brachte mir mein Essen.

Ich schaute auf meinen silbernen Anzug, bloß nicht kleckern, dachte ich.

Leipziger Freiheit" 20 Jähriges Jubiläum „Friedliche Revolution“ 
Lichtfest eröffnet mit Werk von Ruairí O’Brien

http://www.ruairiobrien.de/index.php/temporaere-ausstellungen

Ausstellung "brüche-89" in Dresden

http://www.ruairiobrien.de/index.php/temporaere-ausstellungen

Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland - Museumsmagazin - Baustelle Deutsche Einheit

http://www.ruairiobrien.blogspot.de/2011_06_01_archive.html

Germany – 3rd of October 2012

http://splashfreespaghetti.blogspot.de/2012/10/germany-3rd-of-october-ruairi-obrien.html

Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut - Story telling light sculpture from Ruairí O'Brien

Slaughterhouse 5 - O'Brien's story telling wall in Dresden as homage to Kurt Vonnegut.

Rebuilt after the flooding in 2013.

Irish artist Ruairi O'Brien created a memorial wall in the Dresden cellar where Kurt Vonnegut survived the 1945 bombings (Photo: Valentina Pop)

The wall installation I built for Kurt Vonnegut tells the story of the destruction and rebuilding of the city of Dresden destroyed in the last days of the Second World War 1945.
It is a plan that depicts the city of Dresden as a macromuseum.
Kurt Vonnegut spent the night of the bombing as a prisoner of war in the cellar where the "storytelling wall" has been installed. This authentic space is now the cloakroom of the trade fair buildings of Dresden. It is also next door to the city marketing offices.
The old map of the city of Dresden before the war and the new map of the city as we find it today are layered on top of each other which demonstrates powerfully the loss and the re-invention of space. Illustrations I did depict scenes or persons out of the book. Quotations from Vonnegut can be found in the city plan and I have included quotations that I found appropriate from Erich Kästner and Viktor Klemperer, both famous writers from Dresden who also wrote about the city and the tragic times. In this way, architecture and text become one. I have also drawn a map depicting other important sites that I want to connect with each other, which creates a type of macromuseum guide to the city. This includes the micromuseum’s I created for the famous German writer Erich kästner and the industrial concrete panel factory (Plattenbaumuseum or Betonzeitschiene), which played such an important role in the rebuilding of the destroyed city.
On the place where the famous Frauenkirche has been rebuilt I have placed the quote from Billy Pilgrim, the soldier narrator in Vonnegut's book who describes the city of Dresden after the destruction with the sentence, "It was like the moon".   A further drawing depicts the key moment of the infamous book burning in Dresden on March 8, 1933, earlier as the burning of books in Berlin. The geometrical destruction of the city is depicted by the triangle used to coordinate the bombers on the night of the destruction. The military museum of Dresden is connected the point were the first bomb was dropped. A point depicts the burial place of Casper David Friedrich whom I also quote and connect to Vonnegut’s Tralfamadore.
With this work, I am compacting and interlaying history and information, tragic moments with reflection in visual beauty to tell a memorable story. Memory becomes a creative personal journey were the viewer is animated to travel in time to pick up the facts that are required to get close to the truth.
It is planned to extend the work online with a website.


http://euobserver.com/social/123134