MATTHEW Morrison is a man with his finger on the pulse. As house steward at the Argory, the National Trust property, he was called in to fulfil a vital role in conceiving a unique light sculpture.
At one time the Argory, a fine house in Armagh built in 1842, was lit by oil lamps and candles; then, making the gas in one of the outhouses, newfangled lighting was installed, with the showpiece being a ‘gasitaire’, an early type of ornamental chandelier with branches ending in acetylene gas jets, considered cutting edge at the time.
After a huge fire in 1989 the house had to be restored and more recently the huge chandelier and other precious brass light fittings were dismantled and a metal conservator came from England to assess the situation. He decided to take the large fitting back to his workshops in London to refurbish and clean. However, this left a space in the West Hall. Although electricity has been installed, something special was required to replace the gasitaire.
Step in Kevin Killen
Kevin is a specialist in 3D design and fine art and he’s fascinated by the medium of light. His idea was to create what has come to be called the Artificial Sunshine installation.
He roped in Matthew, house steward at the Argory, who never anticipated walking around the big house in almost total darkness with a bulb on his right index finger talking about its history as he went, pointing out interesting features, the colours and the swirls of the ornate plaster work.
Kevin recorded his breathing and, in layman’s terms, bent the glass to match the swirling story of the house. The neon light pulsates through the glass rods, changing colour and mood with each breath. It looks like an ethereal woman dancing, arms up to the high ceiling.
Some like it – “Love it, want one”, “Brilliant”. Some don’t. “Doesn’t suit the vibe of the house.” Certainly a talking point.
Every colour reflects the house
“The blue of the china, pink of the lampshades, the green of the grass and so on, it’s very modern and although some people don’t like it the majority find it fascinating and in keeping with the last owners collection of modern art.
"I spend most of my time living in the past telling stories and showing off the collections but we’re always delving into history to come up with something new and this interpretation is something special.”
The family history is complex: gentry who made their money in business and through being major landowners in Co Armagh. In 1817 Joshua McGeough died and Drumsill House was willed to his son Walter Adrien and Walter’s two sisters with the proviso that he didn’t marry and bring a wife into the house as long as the sisters lived there.
But Walter fell in love. So in 1824, six miles away from Drumsill and his spinster sisters, he built the Argory for himself and his wife, a grand house is set in 320 acres. Half is leased out and half forms the woodland trails, walled and formal gardens, walks along the River Blackwater and adventures for visitors.
Today there’s a gift shop, a bookshop and a cafe where twins Niamh and Nadine Campbell serve the most delicious fresh-baked scones. The house itself is retained as it was, a family home for Walter and his first wife.
When she died he remarried and in all had seven children. The house came down through the generations, always elegant, beautifully furnished and with many works of art.
The last and most recent owner was Walter Albert Nevill McGeough Bond DL, born in 1908, a man who appreciated the arts. Much of his father’s collection includes works by Ulster artists on show in the house.
But Nevill didn’t much like the damp weather so he spent half the year in Jamaica and at home became something of a hermit, only attending St James’s Church in Moy wrapped in layers of coats and lamenting the growing costs of running the Argory.
He was affected by the Troubles, especially with the murder of his friends Sir Norman Strong and his son James at Tynan Abbey, so in the late 70s he decided to gift the building and the contents to the National Trust, although he remained living in part of the house until he died when he was 78 and is buried in the grounds near the house.
What would he think of this youthful upstart hanging in the West Hall? Matthew has no doubt.
“The neon gives a similar light to the gas and although some people find it too modern for the house, because Mr MacGeough Bond collected modern art, Isobel Wright, who was once his housekeeper and now one of our guides, believes he would have approved.”
The Artificial Sunshine remains, gracing the Hall, until November when the antique chandelier will return to its original place in the West Hall. Kevin’s masterpiece will then find a permanent home elsewhere in the Argory and remain a unique piece of modern art.
:: Find out more at nationaltrust.org.uk/argory
