#maamtrasna

‘THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL’ - NINE INCH NAILS 

SINGLE ARTWORK : IDEAS DEVELOPMENT

TRACK 10: A WARM PLACE

I had a very hard time figuring out what worked best for this cover. I had taken many arguably “better” photos, or at least ones that would make more sense as a cover. But this one had the most significance to me in light of the subject matter. 

I had taken this photo lying on the floor within the walls of what remained of the Maamtrasna home of John Joyce and his family. I wanted to lie down on the ground and get a sense of what they must have felt in their final moments. Everything suddenly became very real to me and I was very overwhelmed with emotion. 

Even now I feel a sense of loss looking at this image, but visiting just as spring was setting in gave me a sense of hope as I look at all of the life sprouting from the ground. Sometimes it can be easy to forget about hope, but it’s always there. 

My issue was not regarding the picture itself. I knew as soon as I took the photo that this would be the one. My fear was obscuring it with the logo and text. I am studying graphic design at the end of the day, and not photography, so I had to find a way around this problem. I knew I wanted to align it on the left hand side if not the middle ( I had already used the right hand side for “I Do Not Want This” and didn’t feel like repeating myself ) 

After moving the logo and text around for WAY too long, it finally occurred to me to lower the opacity of the logo and text so as to make it slightly transparent. I was then able to find a good middle ground between making the logo and title legible, but also keeping the integrity of the image. 

I’m happy with my decision to use this image, and it probably stands as the thing I am most proud of and emotionally connected to throughout this project. 

‘THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL’ - NINE INCH NAILS

RESEARCH: THE MAAMTRASNA MURDERS

Today I visited the Maamtrasna murder house in Connemara. 

I decided to use these images for “A Warm Place”. 

This is the section of the album where our protagonist gives pause to his violent crusade and delirium to reflect on what he has become. 

Visiting this place was an incredibly sobering experience for me. My excitement over visiting my first “murder house” was dampened to a somber sinking feeling in my stomach when I realised this pile of rocks was once a home to a family, who I’m sure loved each other and shared many happy memories here. Despite the conditions in which they lived, this was their ‘warm place’. 

And then one day that was all erased, in an act of senseless violence. 

The Downward Spiral was released on Interscope Records in 1994. Anyone who has seen Netflix’s ‘The Defiant Ones’ will know the story of Interscope Records, and how they were the target of many political and religious groups blaming them for obscenity for acts on their roster that included not only Nine Inch Nails, but also Trent Reznor’s protégé Marilyn Manson. 

However, Interscope’s biggest sellers at the time were none other than Death Row Records, who were instigators of what would become the infamous west coast / east cost rivalry that would eventually take the lives of each sides mouth-pieces, Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. 

Visiting this place gave me a sense of “what exactly am I doing?” I wanted great content, but I didn’t really consider what it was I actually wanted to say by being here. Does this have actual relevance to my project or do I just think it’s “kinda cool”. 

Trent Reznor claimed for years that it was pure coincidence that he took up residence in 10050 Cielo Drive., a claim he ended up eventually retracting as he admitted that he did know this information and it did influence his decision to purchase the property. Reznor eventually met Sharon Tate’s sister, Debra, during his time in the house, who pulled no punches with him: 

While I was working on Downward Spiral, I was living in the house where Sharon Tate was killed. Then one day I met her sister. It was a random thing, just a brief encounter. And she said: “Are you exploiting my sister’s death by living in her house?” For the first time the whole thing kind of slapped me in the face. I said, “No, it’s just sort of my own interest in American folklore. I’m in this place where a weird part of history occurred.” I guess it never really struck me before, but it did then. She lost her sister from a senseless, ignorant situation that I don’t want to support. When she was talking to me, I realized for the first time, “What if it was my sister?” I thought, “Fuck Charlie Manson.” I don’t want to be looked at as a guy who supports serial-killer bullshit.

I went home and cried that night. It made me see there’s another side to things, you know? It’s one thing to go around with your dick swinging in the wind, acting like it doesn’t matter. But when you understand the repercussions that are felt … that’s what sobered me up: realizing that what balances out the appeal of the lawlessness and the lack of morality and that whole thing is the other end of it, the victims who don’t deserve that.

The topic of censorship is something that, as an artist, I feel strongly against, under any circumstances. It is a slippery slope that I feel undermines our intelligence as a people and is a step in the direction of Nazi book burning ceremonies and “pray the gay away” camps. 

That being said, as artists I feel like we are responsible for what we put out in the world and the effect it has on other people. If that effect is negative or misunderstood, it is up to us to either stand by it or deal with the fall out, just as any parent would with their own children, for whom they are responsible. 

In the end, I was glad I came here. 

‘THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL’ - NINE INCH NAILS

RESEARCH: THE MAAMTRASNA MURDERS

A couple of friends were going for a drive through Connemara and invited me to come. They said they were going to see a house where a family was murdered over a hundred years ago. My curiosity got the best of me, though more than likely any excuse to leave the house would have been met with a similar enthusiasm. 

There was also a sense of excitement, as I knew I could tie this into my project. 

‘The Downward Spiral’ was written and recorded by Trent Reznor at his home at the time, 10050 Cielo Drive, in Benedict Canyon, California. This was the home of Sharon Tate and where she and her unborn child were brutally murdered by the cult followers of Charles Manson in 1969. 

The Maamtrasna Murders took place in 1882. John Joyce, his wife Brighid, his mother Mairéad, his daughter Peigí and son Micheál had lived together in a small stone cottage near the Galway/Mayo border, miles away from the nearest village. One day all five of their bodies were found, with no witnesses or suspects. 

Authorities believed it to be a personal attack, perhaps provoked by an argument over land, or sheep rustling. As a result, eight men were convicted and three men were sentenced to death. The names of those that were executed were Myles Joyce, Pat Casey and Pat Joyce. They were not given the chance to defend themselves during trial proceedings, mostly owing to these proceedings being carried out entirely in English, (Ireland was still under British rule at this time, and therefore answered to the British courts.) 

Myles Joyce, Pat Casey and Pat Joyce spoke only Irish.  

Covering the incident, London-based magazine The Spectator wrote the following:

The Tragedy at Maamtrasna, investigated this week in Dublin, almost unique as it is in the annals of the United Kingdom, brings out in strong relief two facts which Englishmen are too apt to forget. One is the existence in particular districts of Ireland of a class of peasants who are scarcely civilised beings, and approach far nearer to savages than any other white men; and the other is their extraordinary and exceptional gloominess of temper. In remote places of Ireland, especially in Connaught, on a few of the islands, and in one or two mountain districts, dwell cultivators who are in knowledge, in habits, and in the discipline of life no higher than Maories or other Polynesians.

It was discovered by scholars investigating the case that Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at the time , John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer, had compensated 3 alleged eye-witnesses to the sum of £1,250, equivalent to €157,000 (by 2016 rates) to provide testimony against Myles Joyce, Pat Casey and Pat Joyce.

On the 4th April 2018, Irish president Michael D. Higgins issued the men a pardon. 

The U.K. government is yet to acknowledge the miscarriage of justice and the murderer(s) were never identified.