Accession Code: wu0065 Title: Se Noyer Dans Un Verre D'eau ( A Shorter History) Date completed: 1982 Medium: Prints Material: Etching Height (mm): 462 Width (mm): 434 Depth (mm): n/a Inscription: Signed dated and inscribed with title. Numbered 5 Location Name: Picture Store Location Description: Location Floor:

This etching is accompanied by the following words which are printed on the reverse of the work:

Storm in a Teacup 2 (The Artist in a Glass):

There is a phrase in French (se noyer dans un verre d'eau) which literally means 'to drown oneself in a glass of water'. Metaphorically it means to be pretty incompetent, messy, hopeless in the conduct of one's affairs and upset by trivialities. The artist totally naked, is submerged to his nose, and he has further to slip. There is even a gesture (if being almost static can be called a gesture) of despair in his attitude: the inevitable, total submersion, may soon happen.

This may reflect Micheal Farrell's personal feelings in the late 1970's, but it also symbolises the state of artists who feel themselves sinking into a shallow trough. Micheal Farrell has made his predicament as a person and an artist into a work of art.