Collective Action

In the melting-pot where cutting-edge music meets state of the art visuals can be found some of Ireland's most inventive image-makers. Tanya Sweeney talks music and art with design/animation collectives Delicious 9 and DADDY.

In Ireland, we've had the best home-grown soundtrack for years – just look at The Thrills, Damien Rice, Bell X1 and The Frames. Just as the figureheads of Dublin's music scene are enjoying previously unparalleled levels of acclaim and success, a new bank of talented collectives are on hand to provide a visual account of this new musical dawn. Step forward two companies whose stars are firmly in the ascent; Dublin's Delicious 9 and DADDY video/animation/art collectives. Both companies are roguish traders in the currency of new ideas, and are concerned largely with animation and music video/visuals. One thing is for sure, both are definitely pushing the envelope in terms of visual innovation and low-budget wonderment.

For Delicious 9's Eoin Whelehan, a misspent childhood left him in no doubt of his chosen career path. 'Personally I grew up with a great love of cartoons – all of us that are involved in Delicious 9 watched way too much TV as kids – and also of comic books, especially the Marvel series'. When asked of his influences, those hours in front of the box seem to have left their mark: 'In the beginning it would have been Sesame Street, Looney Toones and anything else that was exciting and inventive. Through college though, we were exposed to a wide range of influences from experimental artists like Norman McLaren, Len Lye and David Lynch.'

Rival visual company DADDY was born out of very similar circumstances, as Mike Ahearn explains. "We are all interested in film and graphics comics and animation since we were teenie tiny little fellas, and now due to the wonder of modern house computers we can make cartoons in the comfort of our own homes."

The full article is printed in Film Ireland 101