The Forge

The Forge, as an artistic and archival project, has its origins in a building of the same name that once stood on Percival Street, Kanturk, Co. Cork. In June 2005, as an archaeologist, I carried out a desk-based archaeological assessment and historic building survey at the site. The job was relatively straightforward but my subsequent personal engagement with the building and its contents endures.

In January 2016 to conclude my MA in Art & Process Graduate Residency at the Crawford College of Art & Design I hosted an open archive event to display the house contents of The Forge.

I continue to process the archive by means of photography, research, online dissemination, gifting, sampling, destruction and the making of artworks.

BFK001 & BFK002: The surface of the cobble (BFK001) is blackened in places. It fits nicely in the hand and it doesnt take a huge stretch of the imagination to see it being used as an improvised tool. In archaeology a hammerstone is the name given to

BFK003: An illustration of a girl/young lady holding a bunch of flowers. She looks directly at us with a friendly and pleasant countenance, but there is something strange about this image. It might be her large eyes or the space between them. The rev

BFK004: A brass thimble found in a tin of buttons on a table in the forge. The number 2 is stamped on it near the base. I gifted the thimble to a friend in 2006. It now resides in Uig a small village on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland.

BFK005 & BFK006: A pair of earthenware Staffordshire dog figurines, most likely late 19th Century in date*, although manufacturing began as early as the 1720s. These ornaments were primarily made in the West Midlands of England but also in Scotland w

BFK007: A 1977 Bank of Ireland calendar that was hanging on the west wall of the kitchen to the left of the fireplace. I gifted this item to my friend and former colleague Jonathan 'Jonski' Millar, who was born in that year. He is pictured comparing

BFK008: Ford & Sons (1893-1938, Newcastle St, Burslem, Staffordshire) Argyle Flow Blue Dinner Plate, found in the kitchen at The Forge. Blue floral detailing. Extensive staining, crazing/crackalure and a number of larger cracks. The word 'Argyle' is

BFK009: A metal tea caddy primarily orange and purple with an oriental design featuring ships, rushes, blossoming trees and cranes/storks. Found in the kitchen, this tin still contained loose tea. It features the text ‘MADE IN ENGLAND’.

BFK010: Very common ‘Black Jap’ or ‘blackjap’ metal tea caddy with an oriental design featuring a man sitting under a blossoming tree and being served food by a young boy, two ladies with fans standing near a screen and ducks and geese in flight on t

BFK011: Red metal tea caddy with turquoise and gold detailing with design featuring blossoming flowers and trees, birds and a lady in a kimono on a balcony waving in the direction of another lady with an umbrella who is with a young boy fishing. Ther

BFK013-015: Paraffin lamps with weighted metal bases. Three colours: red, yellow, turquoise. I removed the majority of the rust where it was accessible. The internal parts are badly rusted but they are still in working order.

The Forge

M. Dn.