Orla Barry compiled a visual essay consisting of text fragments by Kathryn Scanlan and Bohumil Hrabal, stills and quotes from the films Au hasard Balthazar (1966, dir. Robert Bresson) [the heirs and film distributor Argos Films denied permission to publish the stills, ed.] and The Rider (2017, dir. Chloé Zhao) and image contributions by Irish artists Gary Coyle, Mairead O’hEocha, Maria McKinney, Alice Maher and Dorothy Cross.
Lives lived with Animals
I baptise you Balthazar,
in the name of the Father,
the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Amen.
Marie! Marie!
Marie!
Marie! Marie!
Marie!
Dear God, don’t take
him from me too.
Wait!
You know how sad and
miserable my life will be.
Lend him to us.
He’s worked enough.
He’s old, and all I have.
Just for a day.
What’s more, he’s a saint.
Perfume.
Stockings.
Gold. (…)
