BOGMAN

Spring 18. BOGMAN explored themes of rurality, urbanity and community. 

Originally rooted in the boglands of North Kerry it celebrates rural bog culture, bog architecture and song. Inspirations and cultural references include Tom De Paor’s N3 Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture 2002, Luka Bloom’s song I’m A Bogman and personal memories of bogscapes near my childhood home. The colour story is inspired by the bogscapes of North Kerry, turf brown, caramel brown, forest green, fog-white and a variety or oranges shades reminiscent of the evening sunset.

The print storytelling aspect is derived from the humble peat briquette, part of the furniture in Irish homes through out the 80s and 90s, a symbol of family, community, security and warmth. Another feature of Irish community and cultural life, the sleán, the implement used to cut turf from the ground manually, is another feature of the print narrative placed subtly on shirts and tee-shirts. Bogman is true example of the cultural storytelling and “wearable culture” central to Go Dare Creative. 

To launch the BOGMAN story we received permission from Tom De Paor himself to interpret and celebrate his work. We then worked with talented young Kerry musician Seamus Harty, who performed a version of Luka Bloom’s I’m a Bogman, which was subsequently endorsed by Bloom himself having heard the version online.