"I live for the weird” - Lunatraktors launch exhibition in Waterford's GOMA
Carli Jefferson and Clair Le Couteur. Photo: John Power
Part of the job description of ‘artist’ surely includes a caveat that you will invariably collect a lot of strange objects. Gloves found on the street, bejewelled bras and giant stuffed unicorns are just a fraction of what the Lunatraktors have amassed over the past nine years of performing folk music across the country.
Consisting of Carli Jefferson and Clair Le Couteur, they first met in 2013 in a bar in Prague, where they “secretly fell in love”. It wasn’t until 2017 though, that they finally formed their band, and their relationship. The couple are married, “about two years ago”, because “it was the only way of insuring our van”.
Carli has been dancing since she was four years old. She worked as a clown “for various reasons”. From 2001-2004, she travelled the world with Stomp. Then she worked in Prague for many years, doing “strange gigs” such as tap dancing on cars.
Clair originally did an English degree before going to art school. They then taught English (and “whatever people would pay me to teach”) in Prague. They began to perform music during this time. They did a PhD in installations in museums and became inspired by “all the folk songs that were trapped in museums and no-one’s ever heard them”.
They moved to Ireland for lots of reasons; one being they wanted to retain their European citizenship.
“It felt like a huge theft of our right to travel and work."
Clair worked as a teacher for an art school in the critical history department, however, as she told Waterford News & Star: “They just shut down the entire department. That was the push we needed."
Sean Nós singing and dancing is a huge “inspiration” for the couple.
The exhibition itself is 'brightly furious' at the world. It plays with notions of borders and countries with a kite made of flags streaming through the main exhibition room. In the window stands a pig in a suit…I can’t help but be reminded of a certain president.
Carli said: “We took everything out of various cupboards and things locked up in bags, and now we’re putting it into the space and asked, ‘what does it all mean?’”. She continued: “We’re obsessed with making things.”
Cúan Cusack, a local artist and designer, gave their take on the exhibition. They said: “I think the work is connected to mysticism. The sets are from the Lunatractors' music videos and performances. I think their whole world is about trying to find out what a British identity is beyond colonialism. It's interesting to think about what a post-colonial folk world looks like, aesthetically and sonically.”
One of the attendees, Chris, “essentially wandered in off the street.”
He told me: “I’m bamboozled, looking around the place. Its chaotic, its colourful, its gorgeous. I live for the weird.”
The Lunatraktors exhibition " " will run in GOMA until January 24. Admission is free.
