Christopher Coe inspires with his new "Worlds End" Island Series, beginning with Achill Henge

Inspired yet again by the region around the West of Ireland, Christopher Coe’s latest release is based on his decision to travel by boat to the islands off the coast of his home town of Westport, armed only with his modular rack and improvise these new musical works into existence in the environments he found himself on these remote Atlantic islands. This is the result… and the first in an exciting and innovative series: ‘Worlds End - The Island’.

His idea was a simple one at first, just to go there, find an interesting spot on the island, borrow a generator and set up and play. The music that would come out would automatically be informed by the location and Coe’s feeling of being in that place. It would also be influenced by the challenges of the journey to the location and the limitations imposed by the remoteness of the island. 

On the largest island off the coast of County Mayo in the west of Ireland, the island called Achill, there is an unusual concrete structure sitting in the middle of commonage bogland known locally as “Achill Henge”. 

Built in the space of 48 hours by a disgruntled local builder and his team as a protest piece in response to government regulations and bankruptcy charges, he created a concrete replica of some imagined completed StoneHenge. It was built over 15 years ago and still stands today, despite all exhortations to destroy it. Some say it is a travesty and vandalism, some say it is a great artistic endeavour in the tradition of protest art, some see it as a true piece of outsider art. 

Access to the work is difficult and remote, it is not a tourist attraction as such, only known to a few intrepid travellers and the locals, some graffiti artists and the local council who have not been able to remove it due to its enormous nature and solid build. Concrete pylons were driven deep into the ground in a circular formation, capped with further concrete forms to create a full circle that is approximately 30 feet in diameter. 

It is here that Coe chose to create one of his first pieces for his Worlds End - The Island series project. In collaboration with some local friends, and filmmakers Hanna and Jayke from Team Point Break, these pieces were filmed on location while Coe improvised the music. The final edit was then sent to visual artist Roy Gerritsen who created a live visual mix using Touch Designer and live rendered topographical animations to deliver an evocative and beautiful final piece.

‘Worlds End - The Island’ series is an ongoing project that Coe intends to pursue over the coming years with his ambition to record and film on most of the islands off the west coast of Ireland. Creating the music entirely with his analog modular system and improvising the work into existence every time, Coe intends to build a series of long play musical compositions that he hopes will capture the nature of these rugged islands in a completely new way.

▶ Christopher Coe - Worlds End - The Island series - Chapter 1: Achill Henge will be released on Friday 26 July 2024.

▶ Be sure to visit our official YouTube channel to see the video experience.