Underbreath (2002)

Daylighting Festival, National Sculpture Factory, Cork.

Commissioned by the National Sculpture Factory in Cork as part of a group public art exhibition, this work was situated in the exterior walls of the Bonded Warehouses on the Custom House Quay in Cork City. Visitors to the work were requested to pick up a hefty set of keys from security, and move to the south side of the quay where seven padlocked cupboards had been inserted into spaces in the building’s walls. Using the keys to open and close these cupboards, visitors found objects and etchings related to the long history of the quays. Gilson worked closely with the community of dockers who still worked the Customs House Quay at the time, a labour intimately connected with the locking and unlocking of spaces. During the installation the dockers voluntarily helped people open the cupboards and even invited Gilson to watch one of the Ireland games in the 2002 World Cup in their shed.