How does a small community in West Clare conceive how it will look 60 years from now in 2084? When George Orwell wrote 1984 in 1949, some of his predictions were alarmingly accurate, and they were from a vantage point of 35 years prior.
The town of Miltown Malbay in West Clare is currently exploring such themes in a unique time machine pilot project that it will host later this summer.
Work is progressing on the project, titled ‘Room With A View’ which has been commissioned by Creative Ireland and funded under the Creative Climate Action Fund. The fund supports creative, cultural and artistic projects that build awareness around climate change and empower citizens to make meaningful behavioural transformations.
Four artists were initially commissioned to spearhead the building of this time machine in the town however, two of them Brandon and Lisa Lomax have since returned home to the US for personal reasons, leaving the other couple Maeve Stone and Alex Gill to take over the reins.
The two coordinators who run a production company in Ennistymon called Cracking Light Productions plan to turn an old bank in Miltown into a time machine using a combination of storytelling, theatre, and film-making as well as immersive installation to twist time to join the past, present and future into a unique and fun exhibition.
They hope to present to the town a living room with multiple viewpoints of the outside world.
To achieve that, they have been using their respective creative strengths to work with the Miltown community, as well as researchers and climate scientists prior to that to imagine different aspects of the future based on the traditions, habits and lives of today.
The final exhibition they hope, will imagine and transform this world of the future into an interactive experience for the audience. Since February, they have been making connections locally in Miltown Malbay and searching for the perfect site to build their machine.
In addition, they have been hosting public workshops in local schools and community centres as part of their research.
“The main thing is a lot of community consultation and been the heart of the project,” said coordinator, Alex Gill.
“We didn’t want to just design it ourselves and drop it into Miltown Malbay for a few reasons, one, it would make it a more interesting project, and two, we wanted community buy-in – we wanted people to feel the point of it and be excited but it. We also wanted to get as many different perspectives into the room as possible. We wanted young, old and everything in between.
“Then we decided to run monthly Kitchen Table Conversations because the kitchen is a neutral space where people would feel comfortable and supported to voice their opinions. So the idea at first was that we would move around each month but there are only so many suitable locations locally, and so we tend to return to The Frozen Spoon Cafe where Joe, the proprietor was lovely and very open to the ideas when we hosted the first one there. We had 12 people attend that one.
“Each month there is a different theme. The first month, we asked people to bring a household object, and we asked them to bring something they would save in a fire, and then we talked about what it was important for them to bring the object. Local participation is consistent. It is a conversation and everybody gets involved from the ten-year-old to the 70-something-year-old. We let the object talk and then it is a fun exercise to do.
“Everyone tends to love them and tells us so.”
The second kitchen table conversation or community talk was held at the Miltown Malbay Community Centre.
“It was about food, and had a large attendance of 22 or 23 people, probably because food is always popular,” he said.
“People were asked to bring an old family recipe, for example, a favourite one or one that was passed down in the family.
“Una O’Dwyer a horticulturist and local food forager brought edible seaweed to the group, and we also had a local herbalist who talked about local spices and common foods like coffee or cinnamon which could potentially be under pressure into the future.”
Before the Kitchen Table Conversations, in the period from November 2023 to February 2024, they talked to different experts such as researchers and data and climate scientists to understand probable futures from their points of research. All these perspectives will then be filtered through their artistic lens to create The Time Machine. Then they finally kicked off with one kitchen conversation meeting a month commencing in February.
“The idea is always to fast forward to then [2084] using data and information from our scientists as to what projections might be for Ireland,” said Alex.
With the science as a backdrop, the local input on the project was of paramount importance. Alex and Maeve wanted to uses a series of themes that would enable the people of Miltown to co-deisgn an idea of the future within the community. They felt it was important to use household and personal objects, food, clothing and textiles, culture and media as themes. But they also wanted to bring together a lot of skills around human essentials like food and clothing that are in danger of being lost as living becomes ever easier in a convenience-driven world. And these themes have all come into their potential through the conversations and workshops.
Overall, the two artists are delighted and encouraged by the level of attendance, and engagement by Miltown people with the kitchen table conversations.
“We have an amazing age range from eight or nine years of age right up to age dot, dot, dot coming to the workshops. There is a wealth of knowledge out there but also knowledge of the town itself and how it has changed over the years,” said Alex.
The couple also made a special effort with all the national schools locally as well as St Joseph’s secondary school in Spanish Point.
And now they have collected hundreds of drawings by the school-children that they will use for the project.
As a bonus for the children, they have been invited to come along to the installation at The Old Bank for free.
Once their fellow artist friends, Lisa and Brandon Lomax moved home state side, Neil Hynes who works at Miltown Malbay Community Centre joined Alex and Maeve, and has been working for the most part on their social media offering – shooting videos for example.
However, Alex admitted that losing the other two co-ordinators put a bit of pressure on them but he sees it as also an opportunity meaning they can distribute some funding and employ someone like Neil. And they have also managed to fill some of the gaps in sourcing local talent available to them.
Neither Maeve nor Alex is working full-time on the project because there is not a substantial budget available to them. The couple live in nearby Ennistymon from where they operate their production company.
Alex is from Dublin however, he grew up in Killaloe in East Clare before moving east with his parents as a child. Maeve hails from Limerick.
Miltown Malbay is an unexpected place for an unexpected experience so why did they choose the town as the perfect place to imagine the future?
“Lisa and Brandon [Lomax] lived there at the time and they both connected there and the more we thought about it, the more Miltown Malbay made sense, not least because there is a lot going on in somewhere like Miltown Malbay.” he said.
“It is more local. Miltown is rooted in Irish tradition and animated by its music and culture, and because of the Willie Clancy Festival, the community is used to hosting big events. People relate to it.”
Alex says the innovative time machine instillation will take place be over two floors when completed.
“It will be at The Old Bank, and on the ground floor space. We are calling it ‘the now space’. It will contain the kitchen table with lots of conversations with different people. We also have examples of future tech but it will be relatable. It will link to our theme of energy, waste, clothing, textiles, food, household objects and culture,” he said.
“Then the viewer will progress upstairs to the first floor where they will experience promenade theatre which is when you move an audience through a space. This is the 1984 zone. And then the audience will move on in to the 2084 room to look at what has changed.”
By all accounts, Geroge Orwell would be impressed indeed, would he not? Alex however, is determined not to reveal too much detail ahead of the event preferring instead to let people be encouraged to come to enjoy and participate in the experience.
Meanwhile, there is still one more kitchen table conversation to be held and planned for. That final community talk will be held on Friday, June 14, and the theme on the night is ‘The future of Miltown’. Thereafter, they plan to move into the old bank premises at the beginning of August in preparation for The Time Machine.
A portal is open with Clare Libraries until June 28 where those interested can log on and complete a survey as part of the project. Through the local opinions gleaned from the portal, they hope to gather ideas as to what people feel makes a time machine project. Alex is also encouraging those interested in volunteering to log on miltowntimemachine.com and fill in the short application form.
The Time Machine takes place at Miltown Malbay from August 17 to 25 at The Old Bank. All proceeds from the project will be donated to a local community initiative.
Sharon Dolan D’Arcy covers West Clare news. After completing a masters in journalism at University of Galway, Sharon worked as a court reporter at the Sligo Weekender. She was also editor of the Athenry News and Views.