Wolf-Trap Mountain taps into an iconography of modern Ireland alongside a wealth of folkloric motifs to craft a tale of the last wolf in Leinster. Partly local folklore and partly pure fabrication, the piece draws from the lived experience of lockdown in rural Ireland- tapping into the pre-existing cultural associations surrounding wolves to portray a period of anxiety and uncertainty.
The piece combines folklore and fabricated history with the lived experience of rural lockdown life. The Wolf has historically darkened our cultural memory as a predatory and destructive force- “wolf in sheeps’ clothing-” “to wolf one’s food”-“to cry wolf” and “to throw somebody to the wolves” all carry negative connotations while, in games, the wolf is cast as hungry beast who eats children. Wolf Trap Mountain draws upon these existing associations in order to characterize the contemporary cultural landscape from which it was created- a period of covid induced anxiety and isolation.
Wolf-Trap Mountain was commissioned by the arts council for Birr vintage week and arts festival in collaboration with offline film festival. It has also been shown in Miscreate studios exhibition, Limerick and screened in Birr Castle gardens, Offaly.
The piece was projected on the side of a building in Birr during Vintage week and arts festival/
spectators look on.
