Fiona Mulholland

b. 1969, France

Ireland has recently become a wealthy country, with unemployment at a record low rate, increasing numbers of people buying second homes, and more people educated at third level than ever before. And yet, there is a palpable sense of disillusionment and dissatisfaction with our new and materialistic culture. The huge economic, social and cultural imbalances that have emerged are not mirrored by surveys which, surprisingly, position Ireland as one of the best places to live in the world.

The sound-piece functions as a snapshot of contemporary anxieties about private and social issues, exploring the ‘emotional geography’ of our dysfunctional society. It comprises thirty interviews from a cross-section of people, based on a series of simple questions: ‘What would you do if you won the lotto?’ ‘What causes you stress?’ ‘What is success?’ These individuals articulate the restlessness and alienation felt in their daily lives and the basic physicality of everyday situations. The piece marks the contemporary paradoxical experience of modern Ireland at this particular moment in our development as a society.

(Text: give(a)way catalogue, 2006)