Mick Minogue is inviting you all to join him in the Dublin City Office for Lost and Found as he reconnects you with prized possessions.
What is the Dublin City Office for Lost and Found?
The Dublin City Office for Lost and Found is my latest creative endeavour. I have had my studio in a basement on Camden Street for the past few years and am always finding lost items belonging to people that have fallen through the railings and down the steps. In some way, the studio was becoming an unofficial lost and found office so I was inspired by this to create a new type of art show. I like more tactile art shows, ones where you can touch, feel and root. I want people to experience the work in an interesting and curious environment.
What is the most peculiar item you have lost or found?
Item wise I’m not sure but I have lost lots of things in my life. Loads of hearts, love and probably big opportunities but I have also found these things on the flip side. There is something magical in finding something you had thought was lost forever, even the most inadequate or simple things. I lost my phone in Dublin airport right before a flight to Australia. I was reunited with it 2 weeks later and there was a little bit of magic in that. I think everyone has that thing they have lost that they wish they could be reunited with or even the sense of it or memory of it. I think that’s what I’m hoping to create with the show.
Can you talk about your illustrated woodcuts and how they have evolved?
The show is in some regards a retrospective of personal work over the past few years. I am asking people to describe what they have lost and I am going to try to translate it into artwork which can be claimed from the office on the opening night. I will have woodcuts and work that I lost over time. It might have been pitches I lost on clients or artwork I lost beneath the pile.
Who and what inspired you in 2018?
I have been inspired by a lot of folks from different backgrounds over the past year. Creatively, I think I’m always inspired by the those with the big ideas. Artists like Tom Sachs never ceases to inspire. My good friend and author Ruth Fitzmaurice inspires the living daylights outta me on a regular basis and seeing champions be on top of their game like Conor O Brien of Villagers and David Kitt and Margie Lewis, god damn. My creative confident and besto, Mr Steve McCarthy is always topping the list, that man is unstoppable in the illustration world.
What was the most gratifying work experience you had in 2018?
I was very lucky to work on some great projects and team up with some great people but during the summer I got to escape work and Dublin life and drive to Helsinki with my girlfriend and pup. It was the road trip you have been talking about all your life and every mile of it was endlessly wild and rare.
What hopes and plans do you have for 2019?
Sounds cliche but for me good health and happiness are the ingredients for everything else. I’m looking to get set up with a creative agency whether here or abroad. Having worked so many years in freelance and with so many agencies across the board I think Id like to see life from the other side and work more with a team of creative heads. I think that’s where the unknown big projects await, I want 2019 to be bigger and better in every way.
The Dublin City Office for Lost & Found opens on Thursday December 6 at 6pm and runs until December 21. It can be found in the basement of 74 Upper Camden Street.
IG: mickminogue
Photo: Killian Broderick
