IMRAM, the Irish Literature Festival, asked for typographic interpretations on a selection of poems by modern Irish poets. The poem I chose was ‘Chailleas mo Dhánta ag an bPicnic Leitreach’ (I Lost my Poems at the Electric Picnic) by Dairena Ní Chinnéide. The design considers music festivals as modern day spiritualism and explores the traditions and rituals of Irish Pre-Christian and Christian heritage within the modern context of the Irish music festival. It represents a re-discovery of the Irish language and provides a new visual understanding of fractured Irish identity within the digital age.
The poem recalls the poet’s experience of the Irish music festival ‘Electric Picnic’, the loss of her book of poems, and the awakening of the senses she experiences at it. My interpretation of this poem represents the almost spiritual awakening and sense of joy that we experience at theses festivals as being rooted in our Irish heritage. I researched the rituals of Pre-Christian festivals such as ‘Lughnasadh’ along with Christian symbols and meanings, finding many similarities to the modern Irish music festival. The symbols of light, flames and candles all held similar importance in the practice of spiritualisms within Irish history.
This typographic interpretation consists of the design of dot matrix type, which takes a different line from the poem for both exhibition piece and billboard. The dot matrix was created from a photographed t-light candle. The candle was chosen as the symbol with which to create design because both its pre-Christian and Christian meanings of light and fire represent the spiritual, united and unique experience that is rooted in Irish heritage. The wax of the candle represents rebirth, the wick represents our soul and life being lived as the flame burns through it, and finally the light from the candle represents hope and guidance. This meaning was interpreted graphically so as to appear as a matrix of electric lights. This represents the visual aspect of the modern ‘electric’ picnic, (stage lights, lanterns and so on), the true light of the festival (joy and hope shared amongst the people who attend and the poet herself, and the understanding that this kind of wild celebration is rooted deep within our Irish history, as is the Irish language in which the poet tells her story.
This typographic interpretation consists of the design of dot matrix type, which takes a different line from the poem for both exhibition piece and billboard. The dot matrix was created from a photographed t-light candle. The candle was chosen as the symbol with which to create design because both its pre-Christian and Christian meanings of light and fire represent the spiritual, united and unique experience that is rooted in Irish heritage. The wax of the candle represents rebirth, the wick represents our soul and life being lived as the flame burns through it, and finally the light from the candle represents hope and guidance. This meaning was interpreted graphically so as to appear as a matrix of electric lights. This represents the visual aspect of the modern ‘electric’ picnic, (stage lights, lanterns and so on), the true light of the festival (joy and hope shared amongst the people who attend and the poet herself, and the understanding that this kind of wild celebration is rooted deep within our Irish history, as is the Irish language in which the poet tells her story.
