Plaything

Plaything is the next in our new series of ten window text commissions by artists, writers, and designers.

Following the 2021 series inspired by Meadhbh McNutt's Should artists write? workshops, many of the 2022 writers participated in Francis Whorrall-Campbell's workshops How to Write a Door and Walk Through, as well as other artists and writers also invited to participate.

The writers were invited to create one page of text – a completely open brief. The texts range from prose poems to statements, shared intimate moments and more, each capturing the different thoughts and feelings of the author. The texts have been designed by different artists and designers and printed in a risograph edition by Derry Print Workshop.

The texts are visible from CCA's windows, each for two weeks, as well as visible online here and distributed across our region. All 10 from the 2022 series will be available to buy as a fundraiser bundle later this year.

Plaything, 2022
Author: Oisín Roberts
Designer: Niamh Mulholland
Printer: Derry Print Workshop
Risograph edition of 200

This project was made possible thanks to support from Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Art Fund.

About the author & designer:

Oisín Roberts is a poet from Derry and living in London. In 2018 they completed their studies at The Slade School of Fine Art - and mostly stuck around the city reading and writing after that. They recently showed sculptural work with their poem Fool’s Spring at the CCA Derry~Londonderry. They read at Boundless a performance night hosted by pirate radio station No Bounds. They showed photographic work and read at AMP Gallery with Carpeted Stares / Nose Blind But Humming. Sign up for a new, loose and infrequent newsletter at buttondown.email/wildcombination

Oisín says of the work, "Plaything is a kinda straight poem so it makes sense that Niamh's design ended up looking something like a kids poster. Around the time of writing it my friends had had a baby and they made me guide-parent of that baby - and then that baby was turning one. So I was buying a gift for his first birthday party and thinking about myself a lot in the way that babies come along and bring about some abrupt self-reflection. Writing the poem was quick and mindless - like a lunch break."

social media

buttondown.email/wildcombination | @oisin.roberts

Niamh Mulholland is a recent Graphic Design and Illustration graduate at the Belfast School of Art, Ulster University. She loves to use a mixture of mediums and bold colour palettes to create a playfully sophisticated approach to her work.

It was important for Niamh when creating imagery to accompany the written work by Oisín Roberts, to convey the emotions depicted. She enjoyed the process of using the colours mentioned in Oisín's writing, to create her colour palette and the basis of her illustration.

niamhmulholland.com | @niamh_illustration