Blog Feed: the mutation irish arts and culture blog

Cork Cycle Chic Needs You Some of our members are involved in this great festival of bikes so if you’re interested get in touch – all the contact info is right here Call Out for fashion designers, models, hair/make up, photographers, perf > read more

Gift economies; the power of the gift?

Published on 2011-07-04 10:44:20

This post is a synopsis of a political and cultural discussion, on the gift economy, that took place in Dublin last week as part of an ongoing series called The Talking Shop Session organised by The Campaign for Old City Arts Building, Dublin Housing > read more

The Empathic Civilisation by Jeremy Rifkin

Published on 2011-07-01 10:00:01

Another fascinating animate from the RSA entitled ‘The Empathic Civilisation’ by Jeremy Rifkin an American economist, writer, public speaker, political adviser and activist. Listening to people that refuse to accept the status quo and c > read more

keeping Irish music venues independent

Published on 2011-06-30 08:48:05

Yesterday was a bad day. But last night I revelled in live jazz and the fog lifted, the spirits rose and all was alright again Live music can do that. Live music does do that. Nothing beats a long day being lifted by sweet tunes. I mention all this b > read more

eating Irish culture and digesting delicious food

Published on 2011-06-28 11:04:16

It was scrumptious. One of the most delicious dinners I have ever had in Ireland, one of the most expensive too. But worth it. Oh so worth it. The food, the ingredients were absolutely magnificent. Food as art. Art to be eaten. The best way to consum > read more

Caught between carrot flies and a writers festival

Published on 2011-06-27 09:22:20

The Barricades Are Up! Man The Barricades! Is the cry that can be heard all along the allotments as carrot flies approach. This is their mid-summer fest, when they paint the town red. Late May, early June to be exact so I hope the worst is over but t > read more

food festivals; a delicious recipe for celebration?

Published on 2011-06-24 09:20:49

It’s raining and i’m not disappointed perhaps because i’m a curmudgeon. Perhaps because I’m hoping the TASTEFEST, that’s currently underway in Cork, is going to suffer. I hate saying that but it’s true. There you go. If you’re reading t > read more

Politics and the culture of limitless choice

Published on 2011-06-23 07:59:32

I found this fascinating RSA animate by Professor Renata Salecl who asks whether the ability to make limitless choices helps or hinders our lives and our society. It is a damning indictment on capitalism. Her thesis makes alot of sense to me as it qu > read more

Culturally doing instead of wretchedly thinking

Published on 2011-06-22 12:25:32

While working on the food market at the Shandon Street Festival, in Cork, last weekend I found myself thinking about how little I go to see things such as shows, gigs, exhibitions, films, festivals. Sure, I’m at 2 gigs a week and am involved in a n > read more

Field Grey: the new Bernie Gunther novel by Philip Kerr

Published on 2011-06-21 10:00:04

So to the seventh Bernie Gunther novel, Field Grey, by Scottish author Philip Kerr. Like many Gunther fans I was chomping at the bit to read it for this series marries my near obsession of all things World War 2 with hardboiled detective fiction. Ber > read more

growing confidence in his vegetables in the allotment

Published on 2011-06-20 09:07:29

After the Easter break I visited the allotment and on seeing the weeds I was struck with a pang (albeit in the lumbar region) for more children. Children are great for that sort of job, low to the ground, flexible and with the uncanny ability to find > read more

The Shandon Street Festival shows the community at its best

Published on 2011-06-17 09:42:48

Tomorrow is the beginning of another weekend of food markets, the last weekend of work for almost 2 months. This time around we’ll be hosting our food market at the Shandon Street Festival, a wonderful community event held in Cork City every June. > read more

A short story: A World Without End

Published on 2011-06-16 11:00:39

Isabel has a red-winged raven taking flight from the base of her spine. A surreal beauty attaches itself to it, with its beak ajar and background of towering flame, as it creeps out from under her jumper as she bends to the floor. She does that a lot > read more

Bloomsday celebrations in Cork

Published on 2011-06-15 11:50:06

Sixteenth today it is, thinks Leopold Bloom, and the 16th it was, in June 1904 So tomorrow is Bloomsday. Not that I’ve read the great book –Ulysses incase you didn’t know – but mutantspace skills exchange has been involved in running a Blooms > read more

album review of John Edgar Voe, JP Ryan, New Order and The Prodigy

Published on 2011-06-14 11:02:03

Reviews of new albums from John Edgar Voe, JP Ryan, New Order and The Prodigy… John Edgar Voe: Western Notes EP Martin Corrigan fronts folk/ alt country outfit: John Edgar Voe. They will be releasing a Four track EP titled Western Notes on June > read more

The joys of working festival markets during summertime in Ireland

Published on 2011-06-13 12:10:23

There is joy to be found eeking out a living producing festival markets in Ireland And I’m knackered. It’s Monday and I feel like I’m at the end of a busy week rather than the beginning of it. Hold on a sec…now that I think about it I’m > read more

southern screen professionals is officially launched

Published on 2011-06-10 09:54:28

Last night I was standing outside the gig venue I run, in Cork, having a quick cigarette and killing time while soundchecks were going on, when I bumped into a musician running down the road to a gig he was involved in, a launch for a new independent > read more

Promoting apps for creativity in Cork City

Published on 2011-06-09 10:11:43

Funny how thoughts collide. I spent yesterday afternoon writing about how useless I thought Cork City Council are when it comes to actively promoting creativity and supporting those who wish to make the city a vibrant place to live in and a good plac > read more

keeping summer alive in Cork

Published on 2011-06-08 12:11:33

Coming down to earth after producing and managing a festival or cultural event is always a strange feeling. Time slows down and opens up to the rest of your life. Those all consuming days of preparation and dealing with bureaucracy just melt away and > read more

New Irish Poetry from Cork

Published on 2011-06-07 09:28:01

Passion She’s a kleptomaniac, he’s a pyromaniac, she stole his heart and he set her world on fire. Puzzle monkey Puzzle monkey shines amongst the dullest crowds, whines when he can’t solve a problem and dines upon maggots, spiders and bird > read more

Close encounters

Published on 2011-06-06 11:24:46

Donnie was told to be outta bed at 5.30 a.m sharp, he wasn’t. “That’s why”, was his father’s response, Donnie had questioned the slap across the back of the head. The both of them were headed for Berkley Forestry Plantation. “I’m not sp > read more

Campaign Launch: Campaign for the Old City Arts Building- take back the city!

Published on 2011-06-03 09:40:50

Saturday June 11th, 6pm at Seomra Spraoi.Campaign launch with talks by campaign members and Sandy Fitzgerald, former director of Dublin City Arts. Followed by Food and Party. €3 suggested donation from 10pm Join us on June 11th for the launch of th > read more

The Fisher-man

Published on 2011-06-02 10:45:24

What is a fisherman? A Question of Skill Noun: 1. A person who fishes, whether for profit or for pleasure Fishing as a livelihood was long moribund in the village where I grew up but I always felt that something resonated in the broken wooden lobster > read more

summer madness is just beginning

Published on 2011-06-01 11:49:23

Funny how life has a habit of throwing you tonnes of work in a short period of time; especially when you’re in the business of producing events. The summer is always lunacy. From May through to August, my time is just chewed and spat out at an alar > read more

Tattoo Art Show in Dublin this September, you interested?

Published on 2011-05-31 10:32:23

Every weekend this year a new or established tattoo convention pops up around the world, from London to New York, Cobh to California! Thousands attend these shows to get inked, buy jewellery and clothes, listen to bands and have a few jars over the w > read more

Delicious recipe for Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi

Published on 2011-05-30 11:29:08

The word dumpling gives me an immediate shot of culinary warmth. However, the odd thing is that I am not that keen on this kind of food. Dumplings feature in many cuisines, even here in Ireland where they are made both with flour and suet and with po > read more

rudeness is the biggest obstacle to overcome in the music industry…

Published on 2011-05-28 09:00:35

One of the biggest obstacles to overcome in the music and creative industry is the pig ignorant behaviour of the few who think they are above everybody else. The amount of times you do not get an email back from an enquiry you’ve made, never ceases > read more

making carnival art or optimizing websites?

Published on 2011-05-27 08:59:01

The last few nights have been long, tiring and hectic. For the first time in years myself and my wife have been up till the wee hours making carnival props in our living room. It brought both of us back to a time when we did it as a living, her makin > read more

making carnival art or optimizing websites?

Published on 2011-05-27 08:59:01

is mutantspace an arts resource or co-operative?

Published on 2011-05-26 10:21:54

I’ve been deliberating over the difference between mutantspace as an ‘arts resource’ and mutantspace as an ‘arts co – operative’. The reason being is that the site is beginning to get more publicity and is receiving increased online traff > read more

mutantspace, why bother?

Published on 2011-05-25 10:02:41

People often ask me why I bother with mutantspace arts resource. Why I would do something; run a website, a bi –annual DIY festival and a daily blog for nothing, free gratis. It’s a lot of work. It has cost money to set up, install, code, pro > read more

doing mad pride in rural Ireland

Published on 2011-05-24 11:08:17

I’ve been offline for 3 days and it feels like an eternity. With no access to the internet time has somehow managed to expand in a strange way and most wonderful way. I feel like I’ve been on holiday. The reason for missing my online duties is th > read more

Review of Orhan Panuks book, The Museum Of Innocence

Published on 2011-05-20 07:09:57

Orhan Pamuk’s book, The Museum Of Innocence, is a study of obsession and love, a difficult subject to keep the reader interested in unless they are persuaded by the narrators suffering. In The Museum of Innocence Panuk doesn’t quite pull it o > read more

Campaign for the old Dublin City Arts building: TAKE BACK THE CITY!

Published on 2011-05-19 10:33:43

The old City Arts Building, once a hub of collaborative arts projects, has been left vacant for the past 9 years. Like so many other well known buildings, and half of the country’s new estates, it has now fallen under the control of NAMA. We want t > read more

Good SEO practice for an online arts resource

Published on 2011-05-18 12:41:47

Running an online arts resource and skills exchange, even a small one like mutantspace.ie, means very little art and lots of computer obsessive nerd stuff such as coding html and php, seo, analytics, link exchanging, posting and social networking. Al > read more

Play at the Theatre Development Centre

Published on 2011-05-16 11:11:40

Sometimes I think that having someone to play with can make all the difference to how successful you are as an artist. Of course some art forms are by their nature solitary such as; writing, composing, painting, sculpture and so on however the desire > read more

tips and advice for bands looking for gigs

Published on 2011-05-14 09:36:42

Bands and musicians need to be serious about what they do, need to think clearly about where they stand, what they want and where they want to go otherwise they’ll end up flailing around, wasting time, energy and ultimately failing. So why am I bri > read more

Album Reviews from Seeping Into Cinemas, Henrietta Game and The Foo Fighters

Published on 2011-05-13 09:22:31

Seeping Into Cinemas: 100,00 Times (Le Cheap Équipe) Seeping into cinemas is the solo project of Dublin musician, Barry O’ Brien. The album that zero’s in on electronica is made up of ten songs, inhabited with dreamy soundscapes and a whispe > read more

The Penan tribe, Borneo forests, tai chi and cobras

Published on 2011-05-12 08:10:24

Sunday, 17th April, 2011 Stranger in the Forest (I) In 1982, Eric Hansen, the author of ‘Stranger in the Forest – On Foot Across Borneo ‘ laid out the best map of Borneo he could find (mapped by the British Ministry of Defence) on the floor of > read more

What the hell is Community?

Published on 2011-05-11 11:51:10

Community. What is that? Will someone please tell me because I am sick to death of the hearing it. I’ve had enough of the media telling us we belong to this community or that community. Rubbish. Community is used to pigeon hole us, stick us somewhe > read more

Drawn Together; A running commentary on a collaborative work

Published on 2011-05-10 09:17:33

I know now that Performance Art can be a many shaded shadow. It can be so strong and in your face or just a puff of dust floating in the sunshine. I believe it’s the intentional action of the artist that is only the start of the art. The audience > read more

Trashing Culture is now done and dusted

Published on 2011-05-09 10:25:34

Another round of trashing culture done. Dusted. Put to bed. Finished. I’m feeling spaced and washed out as if I’ve been through a hot spin cycle and come out the other end; tired, worn, my colour bled, faded, jaded, dull, a shrunken version of my > read more

New Irish Poetry: The Ghosts of Japan and Halfway across America

Published on 2011-05-07 09:25:49

The Ghosts of Japan The homeless of Japan are like ghosts, they exist and are sometimes seen but usually we look right through them as if they’re not there, so they don’t quite exist, I have seen them push their shopping carts through he streets > read more

New Irish short story: Nonsensical Ramblings Of A Lunatic

Published on 2011-05-06 09:05:07

I’m a strange one, in this strange world, filled with strange dogs, with strange owners who drive strange cars down the endless highways to hell, to heaven, above us only clouds, the crowds are all mad, they all should be committed to a life of deb > read more

The Trash Culture Revue has arrived

Published on 2011-05-05 07:41:28

So we’ve started. Trashing culture is happening now with a lunchtime poetry and harp recital gig while later on this evening we have the opening of an art exhibition based on text messages by Gary Baus and then onto a gig with the slackers symphony > read more

Superfreakonomics, an animation on altruism

Published on 2011-05-04 11:10:11

Another RSA animation. I really do love them. In this one Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, authors of the bestselling book Freakonomics, ask the question; are we really as altruistic as we might like to think? Here they evaluate the evidence… > read more

Mutantspace trashes culture at its revue from 5th – 8th May

Published on 2011-05-03 06:09:47

Three days to go before we kick off another Trash Culture Revue, a time when we at mutantspace get together and produce our own DIY festival. It is an affirmation of our collective will, co-operation and what is possible when people from many differe > read more

The Allotment: Day 4 and the potatoes are up

Published on 2011-05-02 10:50:03

The potatoes are bursting forth already, just three weeks after planting. I planted them at 300mm centres as suggested, but I think I could have put them closer to allow for failures. So far they all seem to be coming up though. I’ve had to water a > read more

The best recipe for almond and honey cake

Published on 2011-04-30 08:21:32

When I spoke to you last, I was out there happily scratching around in my patch, and eating bowls of pasta. The sun was shinning, the weather forecast was wonderful and I believed that gardening would continue to be the order of the day for the fores > read more

the arts community, state funding and the status quo

Published on 2011-04-29 10:45:07

Why does the arts community insist on fighting for the status quo or at the very least being indifferent to it, being apolitical? The status quo has done very little to create a space for true artistic expression, a space for artistic development. No > read more

Hidden Quarters: a photographic story of 3 homeless men from Belfast

Published on 2011-04-28 10:02:07

Photographs are used within the home to tell the story of our growing up, events within our life and the people that are familiar to us. They can also offer a unique insight into the life of a person and the story they want to tell. This exhibition i > read more

How to get into DIY book publishing

Published on 2011-04-27 08:46:37

Why a book? We think nothing of a band releasing a CD without a record deal. This is seen as evoking the post punk DIY approach of the 70s, taking back control of the music industry, and to a large extent it has worked very well. I wanted to use this > read more

Allotment diary: growing sugar snaps

Published on 2011-04-25 09:50:31

Lucy-may brings sugar snaps from Guatemala in her lunchbox everyday so I decided I’d like to replace them with our own. I was having an internal debate recently as to whether it was a good idea to put healthy stuff in her lunch box. She might assoc > read more

Burning Man: Art in the Desert and the Irish involvement in 2011

Published on 2011-04-23 10:05:50

Burning Man 2007 was the spark that lit the fire in me and out of those embers came mutantspace. It is one of the largest arts and culture festivals in the United States and takes place annually during the last week of August in the temporary Black R > read more

it’s always the little things…

Published on 2011-04-22 10:00:25

What will I do when I die? Sleep like Arthur until a great arts project awakens me from my slumber? Or will I simply miss all the things I now take for granted because I’m too caught up in my own preciousness, my own image, my own dream of what I s > read more

Wolfhall by Hilary Mantel is a wonderful read

Published on 2011-04-21 08:44:52

I don’t like historical novels. Especially ones involving the Tudors and Henry VIII and even more so after the rubbish that was ‘The Tudors’ on television over the last few years. So, it was with great trepidation that I bought, read and then s > read more

my short relationship with a book voucher

Published on 2011-04-20 15:15:18

I’ve just sneaked off to do my favourite thing in the world. It has taken me months to do but I’m finally finished. And oh, such sadness, the moment has passed but it had to come some day, some day. It has been hard work but most enjoyable. It re > read more

With Violent Minds

Published on 2011-04-19 11:05:53

The crowd rushed towards the scene as if it was a parade stomping rapidly through the town. Already ticker tape embossed with warning slogans ran like a giant snake sectioning the area off. Those with the best view of the scene were the quick-footed > read more

Allotment Diary: planting the potatoes and onions

Published on 2011-04-18 11:04:27

The first thing Lucy-May wanted to do when we got to the allotment was to check and see if the spuds had started growing. She wanted to water them and while she was doing that I started on the onions. The Chief of Staff (the missus) visited the allot > read more

Play lego and grow up

Published on 2011-04-16 11:38:01

Red lego blocks, blue, white, yellow, white, black. Two locked together make a mammy horse, baby pig, space rocket, digger, robot, plane, tractor, car, house, garage, dinner, bed. Who cares, they can be anything, do anything, be anything when you’r > read more

the final pleasure of running a band competition

Published on 2011-04-15 10:30:48

A few days ago I was ranting on about the stress of putting on gigs. Wondering why I did it when all it did was cause me grief. Towards the end of the post I mentioned the good points, albeit rather briefly. Afterwards I thought that a bit disingenuo > read more

Notes from Borneo; snakes, writing, nasi Lemak and comrades

Published on 2011-04-14 11:02:46

Monday, 4 April, 2011 Snakes after a Siesta I have just surfaced from an early afternoon siesta. As I waited for the kettle to boil, my groggy gaze drifted outside the kitchen window, onto some dry, parched and used up banana trees. The rain fell hea > read more

Album reviews of Brooke Fraser, Robert Sarazin Blake, The Blackout

Published on 2011-04-13 08:38:39

BROOKE FRASER: Flags (Wood & Bone) * * * * * 5/5 Antipodean singing sensation Brooke Fraser released ‘Flags’ last week to a sold out gig in The Sugar Club. Her first Irish Date at that! Spreading her wings away from home, Fraser is stepping a > read more

The pressure cooker that is running a small music venue

Published on 2011-04-12 12:02:10

Putting on gigs is so stressful! Why do I do it? Why do I make a life out of taking a bet on bands five nights a week in the vain hope that I’ll have a full house of people having a good time; dancing, singing, drinking, getting into it? It’s har > read more

Poetry; Blue, Bas3rd and I Tasted Heaven

Published on 2011-04-11 10:39:25

Blue His clenched fists, his ready to rumble stance. His pristine white shirt splattered a sanguine red. The calming blue has no effect. The calming blue reminds him of his toy bi-plane, of his childhood, of his father’s clay crusted work boots, St > read more

The Laymans view on the EU/IMF money – lending scam

Published on 2011-04-09 10:24:24

Down on the street Layman has been wrestling with this whole Eu/Imf, money-lending scam. It’s ingenious. Down through the years the Germans and French, wanted us to be there buddy and they gave us grants as sweeteners so they could open up our econ > read more

John Merrick, Monkey Shrink

Published on 2011-04-08 10:57:03

The zoo called, they had a serious problem with one of their great apes. I arrived just after six in the evening, the wind and rain were being bastards. He was kept isolated from the other gorillas, they thought that it might be contagious, “what m > read more

Two delicious and quick pasta recipes

Published on 2011-04-07 10:58:07

Here in the West of Ireland, March was unusually kind to us. Yes, we had some rain, but we were spared the gales that one associates with this equinox month, and we had many dry, sunny days. As I grow older, I have taken to measuring the time and eff > read more

Childs play in an alternate universe underneath the hedgegrow

Published on 2011-04-06 10:46:04

� � � � � � In ditches, hedgegrows and under prickly bushes hide a cast of characters from our childrens imagination; fairies, dwarves, foxes and wolves, pigs, moles, badgers and toads. And in this magical place I found > read more

An Allotment Diary: Day One, The spuds

Published on 2011-04-04 10:17:54

I succeeded in getting the spuds in today. After mucho running and racing and dragging my daughter I finally found a long handled spade. None of these short stubby back-breakers for me. Dug three ridges about 2m long each and put in the sprouting see > read more

Working Out, Working In (Master class with Nigel Rolfe, March 9th, Dublin)

Published on 2011-04-02 12:20:10

There are more than 100 forms of Arthritis……. I want to be young again, I want to know what it feels like to wake after a full sleep, without any feelings in your body but energy, to attack the day with zest, hope and full on combustion for whate > read more

A Cork Diary: GAA, pints of stout and tuna sandwiches

Published on 2011-04-01 10:05:21

We were invited over for dinner on Sunday and arrived late but just as the game started. My wife shouted for Cork. I shouted for Down. That’s what you do when you’re married. And Marty a Van head was playing the Drumshanbo Hustle. My wife thought > read more

The Trash Culture Revue is nearly upon us!

Published on 2011-03-31 10:04:30

The Trash Culture Revue programme is finally together – at last and every time the festival comes around more members get involved. This growth is a testament to what we’re doing in mutantspace, a testament to our members and their commitment to > read more

Commercialization of Education: The Provisional University and FEE – Free Education For Everyone

Published on 2011-03-30 10:21:26

Heres a short documentary by Dublin Community Television on 2 groups fighting against the commercialization of education; The Provisional University and FEE, Free Education For Everyone. The provisional University are active members of mutantspace an > read more

The Butterfly and the Boiling Point Charting the Wild Winds of Change in 2011

Published on 2011-03-29 12:36:25

Revolution is as unpredictable as an earthquake and as beautiful as spring. Its coming is always a surprise, but its nature should not be. Revolution is a phase, a mood, like spring, and just as spring has its buds and showers, so revolution has its > read more

Life in Borneo; Kuching, Kingfishers and Chinese Arak

Published on 2011-03-28 07:53:58

Wednesday, 16 March, 2011 7pm, Kuching It’s raining; that city rain; not heavy, and not light, but enough to get wet; the gusts of wind carry it aloft; intermittently whipping and lashing, ravelling into swishing skeins; scrabbling and mingling alo > read more

Autonomy in the modern world; an essay by John Holloway

Published on 2011-03-26 11:04:58

Some good reading for you all to do today. It’s an article by Sociologist John Holloway called Zapitismo Urbano. The essay talks about autonomy and how one of the great challenges in the modern world is how we can be truly autonomous when we ar > read more

Learning about the elevator pitch the hard way

Published on 2011-03-25 10:48:20

Spent yesterday at an SEI bootcamp for social entrepreneurs. I had put in an application for funding and mentoring and hoped against all odds that I might get something from it – something that would propel mutantspace into a new place, get more pe > read more

The Crises of Capitalism: an animate by renowned academic David Harvey

Published on 2011-03-24 07:03:43

As I’m busy and away from a computer for a whole 24 hours today – which is rare and strangely liberating – I thought I’d post another animate from the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. It& > read more

John Malkovich in Conversation with Jim Sharman at The Sydney Festival

Published on 2011-03-23 12:30:53

Thought I might post this up for all you Malkovich lovers out there. The conversation between Malkovich and Jim Sharman, a respected and enduring artist in his own right, is wide ranging and includes Malkovich talking about his recent collaborations > read more

5 things Jenny Williams loves…

Published on 2011-03-22 06:54:01

Jenny Williams loves: 1. Walking There is nothing that can’t be solved by a good walk, as far as I’m concerned. Bad moods, lack of inspiration, feeling sick, feeling tired, writer’s block – its all solved by a good walk. The f > read more

Album reviews from Poly Styrene and Peter, Bjorn and John

Published on 2011-03-21 11:20:44

Poly Styrene: ‘GENERATION INDIGO’ Here we have a cult punk legend who summarised an entire youth movement with a revolutionary musical style. Releasing her eagerly awaited album: Generation Indigo, we got a chance to check it out before it hit th > read more

5 things Fia Rua Loves…

Published on 2011-03-20 06:45:20

Fia Rua loves: 1. Off The Ball on Newstalk Radio Whenever the conversations in my head are getting scary I reach for the oul’ wireless. I love the radio. It seems more alive than the telly. The brain seems to work more and the presenters seem c > read more

We need space to exist in the world

Published on 2011-03-19 11:51:06

We met in Paris during the transnational meeting “struggles against austerity.” As knowledge workers we are aware of the fact that our struggle is the same as that of our whole generation against the oppressive control exerted over our li > read more

Drop.d.ie music ezine relaunches today!

Published on 2011-03-18 05:08:32

Drop-d.ie began in Cork many moons ago as one man with a tune in his head. He did what he had to do, then set about finding others of a like mind to spread the love and do it as only they could. The D has been on a wild ride through the wilds of [... > read more

Poems about an old car and a man called December

Published on 2011-03-17 11:38:25

My First Real Car The last red ford mustang rolled off the production line on may the 9th 1979, the day I was born, I tracked that car for 10 years, I went all the way to Alaska, there she was covered in rust and moose crap, the owner didn’t kn > read more

Give a man a fish

Published on 2011-03-16 11:26:25

Tuesday, 1 March, 2011 A wet morning, Jamie, and Estrangement The rain spills down outside. It’s been spilling since 4.45am. I wonder does all that rain flush out all the snakes? The translucent lime green ones, glistening in the newly fallen water > read more

Bellchamp Manor

Published on 2011-03-15 11:19:19

Rickety old house, worn but reliable, cobweb clustered, kinda like a ship in a storm. At least the mice are content little tenants. The house just needs a few repairs, a couple of windows, a lick of paint, but that stain. No matter how much I scrub i > read more

Good auld Bacon and Cabbage

Published on 2011-03-14 11:54:03

Is it not wonderful to be alive just now? The days grow longer, some warmth has returned to the air, the daffodils are blooming, the birds are nesting and green shoots are to be seen everywhere in the garden. It is a particular joy for me to see thos > read more

Therapy, tropical infestation and roadkill in Borneo

Published on 2011-03-13 08:48:14

Saturday, 26 February, 2011 Therapy, tropical infestation, and lethargy This is my first entry this week. I’ve been cleaning and washing all morning. Now, (10.20am) all the windows of my cabin are open; it’s been a beautiful, breezy Saturday so f > read more

Acts of Hope: Challenging Empire on the World Stage

Published on 2011-03-12 10:13:47

What We Hope For On January 18, 1915, eighteen months into the first world war, the first terrible war in the modern sense — slaughter by the hundreds of thousands, poison gas, men living and dying in the open graves of trench warfare, tanks, b > read more

Daily life in Kabong, Borneo

Published on 2011-03-11 07:37:34

Prophet’s birthday Today is a national holiday. I think it’s the prophet Mohammed’s birthday. I was invited to lunch at Alan’s place. Alan has been one of my shepherds, since arriving here. He’s been teaching at primary level for 27 years. > read more

Rattling The Bones: a Bbeyond Performance workshop

Published on 2011-03-10 03:22:34

On Saturday 26th February 2011, I headed North by Bus to Lombard Street Belfast. This time for a one day workshop with James King as part of the Bbeyond Performance Art Promotion groups 10 year celebrations. This workshop was to be the first in a ser > read more

What Am I doing in Borneo?

Published on 2011-03-09 07:12:09

Friday, 11th January I’m sitting on the verandah of a house which I’ll probably be living in for the next two years, or more. It’s a queer house in a queer place; everything is queer at the moment. It’s half past eight in the morning, and I > read more

Student protesters violently evicted by university | anticutsspace

Published on 2011-03-08 07:23:38

Got this in from a mutantspace member. Another example of whats going on in the UK at the moment – it seems in Ireland we just don’t stand up. The Anti-Cuts Space was created as a resource and meeting-place for activists and anyone involv > read more

Experiencing Munster live in Musgrave Park

Published on 2011-03-07 11:35:13

I was at my first live Munster rugby match on Saturday night against the Newport Gwent Dragons in Musgrave Park, Cork. Myself and the brother went. Both of us new to it, both our first time in Musgrave Park. He had an excuse, he doesn’t live in Cor > read more

A travel diary: From Vietnam to Borneo

Published on 2011-03-07 07:03:09

Having gone to bed quite early last night (10 pm), I awoke to a pressing bladder and a stream of barely audible Vietnamese commands burbbling out of a portable speaker at about quarter past five this morning. I think the commands constituted an aerob > read more

Marco owner in chief of a Hanoi delicatessen

Published on 2011-03-06 06:46:52

He’s Italian, from I think – Perugia. He’s about a foot shorter than me, and I’m just short of six feet. He’s stout; strongly built like a barrel – a small bullock. He’s got good skin; smooth-olive; you know he’d take the sun really w > read more

I loved ‘What I loved’ by Siri Hustvedt

Published on 2011-03-05 06:19:49

I’ve just finished reading Siri Hustvedt’s ‘What I loved’. It has been sitting on my bookshelf for years and I ignored it. Studiously. When looking for something new to read I’d skip over it deliberately. It wasn’t that I had forgotte > read more

Peter Bjorn & John do a small interview for mutantspace

Published on 2011-03-04 04:57:30

Peter Bjorn & John have a new album out this month: titled GIMME SOME, which is another triumphant POP gem of an album and is out on March 25th! We got a few minutes with the band and asked them to answer 5 questions for Mutantspace: Q: Being con > read more

About World Book Night | World Book Night

Published on 2011-03-03 08:35:37

Green Tek – a mutantspace member – is giving away 48 copies of Seamus Heaneys poetry this Saturday 5th March on Grand Parade, Cork as part of World Book Night. So, head to the Central Library on Grand parade at 5pm and make a ruckus, a ho > read more

Farewell Black Robots | Noise

Published on 2011-03-03 05:33:31

We got this in from Cork music blog wearenoise.com. Couldn’t believe what we read…this is ridiculous..read and weep. They want it sent around the net. They want it known so pass the link on. I personally don’t know the band but its > read more

Introducing Sailor Sam

Published on 2011-03-02 09:03:17

One talented bass player turned to computers to fill in the gaps. Joining forces with a talented sidekick Sailor Sam was formed. Currently promoting their debut EP ‘Introducing Sailor Sam’. All the tracks from this EP are available for yo > read more

Conversings in Acerbica; Managing School Time Material

Published on 2011-03-02 07:33:34

“…existence seems not to be what it portrays; sensations relay idiosyncrasies, more and more, day to days, week to weeks, months to solar cycles… roaming, roving, seeking sources, subjects, sensitive seers who speak out the living o > read more

Open Letter from The Provisional University to Dublin City Council

Published on 2011-03-02 05:18:50

Today, the 2nd March, the provisional university sent an open letter to the City Manager of Dublin City Council demanding a space for student-managed teaching and research and denouncing the neo-liberalisation of the university and the destruction of > read more

The Secret Powers of Time

Published on 2011-03-01 04:55:03

In this RSA Animate, Professor Philip Zimbardo conveys how our individual perspectives of time affect our work, health and well-being. Time influences who we are as a person, how we view relationships and how we act in the world. > read more

Irish live art performance groups

Published on 2011-02-28 05:12:08

Live Art Performance Groups. Live Art/ Performance Art (individuals artists.) Live Interaction of the two. Solo experience of the above. Performance art is interesting in that I think it’s a little like a very old Bible, lots to read, old stories r > read more

New Left Review – Daniel Finn: Ireland on the turn?

Published on 2011-02-28 05:09:10

Below is a link to a recent article in the New left Review about the crisis and general political situation in ireland – pretty good as a historical overview New Left Review – Daniel Finn: Ireland on the turn?. > read more

Democracy; people power?

Published on 2011-02-28 04:39:29

Over the last few days, in the newspapers and on the airwaves, there have been many voices telling us about the importance of our vote. Every election this is what we hear: we shouldn’t take our democratic mandate for granted. This time there is ev > read more

Managing School Time Material

Published on 2011-02-27 05:20:53

“Conversings in Acerbica” “ … existence seems not to be what it portrays; sensations relay idiosyncrasies, more and more, day to days, week to weeks, months to solar cycles . . . roaming, roving, seeking sources, subjects, se > read more

We are the University

Published on 2011-02-27 05:03:03

The university is in crisis. Those who have control of the university have, reluctantly or enthusiastically, been leading the way in reducing education and research to the neoliberal agenda. This tendency is not limited to the cuts in public funding > read more

The Adbusters.org movement

Published on 2011-02-27 04:45:46

Adbusters was founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz, a duo of award-winning documentary filmmakers living in Vancouver, British Columbia. Since the early 1980s, Lasn had been making films that explored the spiritual and cultural lessons the > read more

Random Musings

Published on 2011-02-26 10:27:19

It has now been six months since my grandmother died. Ensnared by a cancerous tumour discovered in December ’09, she trudged on for just a little over 8 months before it fully consumed her totally. Her decline – from a sprightly, full-time worker > read more

Delicious recipes for Turnip

Published on 2011-02-25 10:40:09

Winter turnips are understandably unloved – often overgrown to the size of small balloons (a habit formed from their post war usage to bulk up jams) and a flavour that can come across rather coarse. But as we enter the final leg of winter, the soil > read more

The Coming Insurrection by The Invisible Committee

Published on 2011-02-25 05:02:21

The Coming Insurrection is a French work (although it has become extremely influential in the North American anarchist scene) that hypothesizes the “imminent collapse of capitalist culture”. Written by The Invisible Committee, an anonymou > read more

Call for Rise Up! 24-26 March; Common Knowledge Against Financial Capitalism

Published on 2011-02-25 04:11:50

We, the student and precarious workers of Europe and all around the world met in Paris over the weekend of the 11th-13th of February, 2011 to discuss and organize a common network based on our common struggles. Our name is Knowledge Liberation Front, > read more

Lambeth Town Hall occupied by anti-cuts protesters, 23rd Feb 2011 | urban75 blog

Published on 2011-02-24 10:50:55

Have a click through on the link below. We live in extraordinary times. Tomorrows elections promise to be none of the above but, there is a swell, a shift, an earthquake rising. It cannot be ignored. Moments come and go and this is our moment. We mus > read more

The re – appearance of history

Published on 2011-02-24 07:30:40

No one truly believes, despite the hysteria in the streets, that the world of tranquil certainties we were born into is about to be extinguished. J. M. Coetzee, ‘Waiting for the Barbarians’ An Egyptian commentator on Sky News was asked to explain > read more

Alan Maguires 5 Favourite Things

Published on 2011-02-24 05:14:37

Dreams Dreams are something I will always go back to, sometimes I wish they’d never end but I suppose I’m grounded in this reality for a reason. The way I see it, dreaming is almost like dying, like recently I was a kid again and my dream parents > read more

Open letter from The Provisional University

Published on 2011-02-23 05:46:19

Open letter to Trinity College Dublin Today, the 22nd of February, the provisional university sent an open letter to the Provost of Trinity College demanding a space for student-managed teaching and research and denouncing the neo-liberalisation of t > read more

Tomb Rats and Uncharitable

Published on 2011-02-23 05:21:05

The Tomb Rats Reignite by Alan Maguire I can’t fucking believe the news, the rats are making a come back. New album, a documentary and a world tour. Thirty years is more than enough time to heal old wounds, at least the lads had a good run with the > read more

Ian Whitty & The Exchange; ‘I think it’s the dreams that keep me thin’

Published on 2011-02-22 10:21:44

My name is Ian Whitty. I write songs and sing them as best I can. I started out as a solo performer but now I mostly play with my band, Ian Whitty & The Exchange. I was born in Chicago. My father had a job that moved us around a bit. I have tw > read more

The King Of Writers

Published on 2011-02-22 05:33:50

Samuel E. Tyler king of writers, Samuel E. Tyler king of writers. Tamuel E. Syler, wing of kriters. Kamuel E. Wyler, ting of sriters. Oh jeez what the hell am I gonna do?, the deadline is 3 months away and I haven’t wrote shit for weeks. Has my > read more

The Big Change; Transition Culture

Published on 2011-02-21 10:14:17

Transition isn’t the end game. Transition is what’s happening right now to bring about a Sustainable future. What I’m talking about is the societal change away from our reliance on fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources. This is a big as > read more

Major Delays. A satire by Conor McManus

Published on 2011-02-21 05:41:47

It’s 2012 Obama has taken charge of Ireland. Scene opens President at desk pulling his hair out. Tricolour and US flag at rear. Sign on desk reads President Obama. As sketch goes on. PO takes off jacket, rolls up sleeves loosens tie as he paces and > read more

The layman and injustice

Published on 2011-02-20 10:06:28

Layman was sick over the Christmas, no not the swine flu, just a bad case of charityitis. Layman has no problem with his tax dollars being spent at home to look after people. But where the hell are they? The dollars I mean. But the Layman has a bigge > read more

An audio story by Hip Hop artist Darryl “DMC” McDaniels: Angel

Published on 2011-02-20 05:51:35

An angel brings a hip hop superstar back from the brink. The Moth features people telling true, engaging, funny, touching and eye-opening stories from their lives. Hailed as “New York’s hottest and hippest literary ticket” by the Wall Street Jo > read more

Acoustra, Stephen Young, The Ghandis, Two Door Cinema Club

Published on 2011-02-19 10:00:18

ACOUSTRA- The way it used to be. (EP) Trad veterans Acoustra, have been penned by RTE to be ‘one of the next great traditional bands’ to come out of these fair isles, but there is more than tradition here. There is a deep-rooted sense of what > read more

A delicious recipe for Caldo Verde

Published on 2011-02-18 05:09:47

I have never been to Portugal, but I have eaten Portuguese food in large quantities on the other side of the world. As I have mentioned before in this column, I lived for many years in Hong Kong, which is situated on the south China coast, on the eas > read more

Undergoing changes

Published on 2011-02-02 17:18:20

Sorry to about the abrupt change to the site folks but we’re undergoing a few changes at themutation.com. Everything will resume next week sometime (i hope). the february articles are all ready to go. I promise everything will be much better > read more

Smelly, dirty, live, fantastic Rock n Roll gigs

Published on 2011-01-29 07:22:09

Thought I wouldn’t mention gigs in this blog for a while yet but after the manic night I had last night I have no choice. I want to. 3 bands playing good old fashioned rock n roll and heavy blues – in a small space that normally has a comfort > read more

Smelly, dirty, live, fantastic Rock n Roll gigs

Published on 2011-01-29 07:22:09

The generational outlook on a new theatre play space in Cork

Published on 2011-01-27 07:20:34

I was at a meeting last night for a development that is currently underway in the Triskel Arts Centre in Cork. Corcadorca Theatre Company are setting up a New Theatre Development Centre in the venue. It’s an exciting venture for both the theatre co > read more

The generational outlook on a new theatre play space in Cork

Published on 2011-01-27 07:20:34

Matterhorn; a great novel about the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes

Published on 2011-01-24 07:43:07

I haven’t seen much since the New Year. I haven’t been out at all. Been laying low. The only thing I’ve been to is my own gigs which I host every Thursday and Friday night at a small venue in the City. And I’m not pushed about scribbling > read more

Sound It Out!: a new band competition

Published on 2011-01-20 08:02:22

It’s actually gathering momentum. I’m delighted. We’ve started an emerging band competition that’s going to be kicking off in late February. It’s called SOUND IT OUT! The idea being that the 3 winning bands will get a support slot in a numb > read more

10 things that make me smile from the bottom of my belly

Published on 2011-01-18 10:45:16

It’s January. Things are hard for many people, myself included. The government is on its knees, the opposition aren’t much of an alternative, our whole political system is fundamental flawed and needs a radical overhaul (which we all know won’t > read more

The Trash Culture Revue, May 2011 in Cork

Published on 2011-01-14 09:45:04

Okay. The Trash Culture Revue. What? Yes, our mutantspace.ie DIY festival. It’s our 3rd festival and it’s happening from Thursday 5th – Sunday 8th May in Cork. The festival is made up of whatever mutantspace.ie members decide to do: everything > read more

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen is my great Christmas read

Published on 2011-01-12 08:39:16

I loved ‘Freedom’ by Jonathan Franzen. Like its predecessor, ‘The Corrections’, it is essentially a social-realist family saga about a depressive, entropic midwestern family, the Berglunds, being swallowed and digested by the insatiable appet > read more

Mutant Cabaret with spoken word and music

Published on 2011-01-10 09:40:35

7.01.11 Tonight is the inaugural monthly Mutant Cabaret produced by mutantspace.ie and the Glor Sessions. I’m nervous. The Mutant Cabaret was borne out of our bi – annual DIY festival, The Trash Culture Revue. A means by which all mutantspace.ie > read more

The After Image of San Francisco

Published on 2011-01-07 08:56:23

Hilary Williams. January 6th 2011. For Mutant Space. Yesterday there was a part eclipse of the sun as I was driving up to Glen Cullen in County Dublin. I was tempted to just glance at it, I had put sun glasses on but even a quick squint was a bit f > read more

The After Image of San Francisco

Published on 2011-01-07 08:56:23

Delicious recipes for onions

Published on 2011-01-06 09:29:11

As we reach the heart of an extraordinary winter, the morning soil is brittle and it’s bounty sparse. Beetroot, cabbage, spuds, sprouts, parsnips and winter squash are dripping into markets, but little else; it’s a time then when edible imports a > read more

acerbica intermissive – “a white solstice with ginger gavotte”

Published on 2011-01-06 09:10:56

Winter Solstice. Northern Hemisphere. December 2011 P.C.E.. Last of the shortest days. The longest night is over > read more

5 things Bill Coleman keeps going back to

Published on 2011-01-06 03:40:16

XKCD We had a lot of Beano and 2000AD at home when I was growing up, so I’ve probably always expected more than just a few chuckles from the funnies. Not that you could really describe 2000AD as a ‘funnies’ kind of comic. ItR > read more

The road into 2011

Published on 2011-01-05 08:37:39

New Year, new hope and endless possibilities. We hope. I hope. This is going to be a tough year for everyone, including myself, and is going to need all the creativity and ingenuity we can muster to make it though. Already I am worried > read more

Carosel, Gentry Morris, Take That, Thin Lizzy album reviews

Published on 2011-01-05 05:54:31

Carosel: Star EP A new sound but the right direction…STAR, is the latest release from French bound band Carosel. Hailing from both sides of the pond, Ireland & France, these pair really know how to take a tune and popify it. They kind of ti > read more

A yummy winter jugged Beef recipe

Published on 2011-01-05 05:45:37

I hope that you didn’t over-eat as much as I did during the Festive Season! However, notwithstanding my excesses, I pleasurably survived and indeed now find myself in the doldrums. January tends to be like that does it not? The weather seems to get > read more

Institutionalized

Published on 2011-01-05 05:40:54

The Intelligentsia Institute was founded in 1906 by my late father Dr. Altman Greaves. His dream was somewhat simple, to nurture and to study the greatest minds on planet earth. No matter what background applicants came from, father took this into co > read more

Transition, Transition, Transition

Published on 2011-01-05 05:33:46

You’ve guessed it, Transition is about change. But change from what to what? At the heart of ‘Transitionism’ is the notion that at some point oil production will go into decline. Some analysts say this has already started and this means inevita > read more

The latest from the Mire

Published on 2011-01-05 05:29:09

llusionist Ahern made economy appear to appear then disappear Self-celebrated supposed Statesman and amateur magician Bertie Ahern has announced he will not run for Dáil Éireann at the next general election. “Mr Ahern was the consummate illusioni > read more

An audio Story by Lewis Lapham: The Rookie Reporter

Published on 2011-01-05 05:28:18

Scandal, vice and magnificent hypocrisy: the truth about the press in 1950s America, as seen by a wide-eyed cub reporter. Lewis Lapham is the editor of Lapham’s Quarterly a new journal of history and ideas which can be found at www.laphamsquart > read more

New poems for the new Year

Published on 2011-01-05 05:27:10

Baby Boom Society has no swarm intelligence and no individualism. They just hate one another and love one another. But do they really love one another?, Nope, they just fuck one another. Producing more babies, producing more babies, producing more ba > read more

The Layman

Published on 2011-01-05 05:22:04

The Layman believes drugs should be legalised. This would put the crims out of work, improve the lives of many in the barrios of Dublin and Limerick subjugated by these drug lords, reduce exchequer expenditure on policing and swell the public coffers > read more

John Turturro: Playing Jesus Quintana in The Big Lebowski

Published on 2011-01-05 05:19:07

John Turturro studied at the Yale School of Drama. He created the title role of John Patrick Shanley’s Danny and the Deep Blue Sea in his theatrical début, for which he won an Obie Award and a Theater World Award. Since then, Turturro has ret > read more

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