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OPEN CALL: "1.618 Is there Order in Chaos?" - Aug 2024 - Kilkenny Arts Festival / Alternative Kilkenny Arts Festival curated by Mary Doyle Burke


"1.618 Is there Order in Chaos?" - Aug 2024 - Kilkenny Arts Festival / AKA Festival curated by Mary Doyle Burke
"1.618 Is there Order in Chaos?" - Aug 2024 - Kilkenny Arts Festival / AKA Festival curated by Mary Doyle Burke
"I often ponder how we live in order and chaos. Sometimes I am so conscious of it; other times not at all. Order can make us feel so safe at times , and at the same time feels like it can control us too much. To me order and chaos are a symbiotic relationship, that is evident in nature and in human life? As a Curator and artist,my own practice explores upon the Gaia Hypothesis. All of the earth is its own living, breathing organism. Just look at trees and how they grow , where there is a fractal connection to them.
For years when out, standing in the negative space in the land, in a forest, on top of a bog, this question always arises, this connection, is it there, is it real? Think about how we make all of these connections. Yes, communications, and connections like how trees communicate with each other. And how a tree will draw what nutrients it needs from the soil, and also get rid of those that it does not, around the base, attracting plants that need those deposited nutrients to grow around the tree, forming a plant community. They have a symbiotic relationship. Isn't this another system of social organization? Is society lacking this sense of inner-relatedness, this social organisation over the last few decades, and are we slowly returning to it, slowing down, returning to symbiotic relationships with ourselves, our environment, and our relationship with nature?"
"Just look at the Fibonacci series: The golden ratio of 1.618 is derived from the Fibonacci sequence, a set of steadily increasing numbers where each number equals the sum of the preceding two numbers. Many things in nature have dimensional properties that adhere to the golden ratio. Many things in nature have dimensional properties that adhere to the golden ratio. This famous pattern shows up everywhere in nature including flowers, the growth of sunflowers, snails, cyclones, hurricanes, the shape of spider webs and even huge spiral galaxies in space. Or too some of the sequence have a spiritual meaning for them? This pattern creates a spiral that can be seen in the shapes of the galaxies, our DNA and in nature. The spiral can represent the evolution of life, and growth, with each curve of the spiral representing a new stage or level of existence."
"Does your artwork (any medium) /art essays/spoken word respond, reflect, resonate with the sequence, reflect with order or perhaps even challenge it, or does the core of your creative practice sway towards the chaos? The question again is, Is there Order in Chaos?" - Mary Doyle Burke (Artist/Curator/Artistic Gallery Director)

Ponder your practice. If these questions/themes reflect your inquiries as a visual artist/performer/spoken word/art writer, I invite you to enter our open call. The results will be a group exhibition displayed in An Chead Tine Gallery spaces in Kilkenny during the Kilkenny Arts Festival and AKA Festival.


Up to 5 pieces can be entered for consideration, email jpg saved as Artist Name, title of artwork.


  • The entry fee is 20e and must be paid through An Chead Tine website.

  • The deadline for submission is midnight Sunday 28th July.

  • Selection will take place from Monday 29th to Wed 31st July.


All applicants will be notified of the results by email Wednesday evening 31st July.

Selected works must be delivered to the gallery at 1st Floor Dunnes Stores on Monday 4th Aug.


Opening night of exhibition is 7.30pm Friday 9th August which will coincide with the 1st anniversary of our gallery.

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©2022 by An Chéad Tine

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