From the large windows of NCAD Gallery in Dublin a series of pencil-drawn boys on life-size cards stare out on to Thomas Street. These are the “boys” created by small groups of boys and young men aged seven to 18, working with youth workers and artists for a project called Boys in the Making. The room is filled with moving and compelling images and videos from the project.
“The boy that we made is called ‘Joey’,” says 17-year-old Sean Brophy. He points out Joey in the gallery. Joey is tall and wearing a tracksuit and a hat. “I think it was me and another fellah who gave him the tracksuit because at the time that was the trendy tracksuit everyone was wearing. Another lad gave him the cap which represents his style. The whole character is just our thoughts and some of our styles put into one.”
What were you asked to do? “We just we got asked to create a boy, an average young fellah from nowadays – what his life would be. How we think a young fellah’s life should be. You give him a name and a life.”
“It was fun,” says 15-year-old Reece Wosser. He was in a group that created “Decco”, whose avatar is holding a bike and wearing a Canada Goose body warmer. “We were asked questions and we all just had to give our own answers and our own opinions and [artist] Aaron [Sunderland Carey] would be there. And then in the end, he put everything that we were saying together to make ‘Decco’ and it ended up just being the perfect description of what we were all trying to get at.”
Boys in the Making was created in 2018 by artist Dr Fiona Whelan in collaboration with the Rialto Youth Project’s team leader Dannielle McKenna. The initiative has been repeated with other youth centres and schools in the city and they’re developing a methodology so it can spread wider still. Nineteen “boys” have been created so far, explored in videos, visual art, music and literature.
While the Rialto boys are sitting in for a philosophy discussion with Dr Rob Grant in the gallery, Whelan, McKenna and myself chat next door. Boys in the Making is a subset of a wider project called What Does He Need? which in turn came out of a project called The Natural History of Hope.
“That explored four generations of women’s life experience,” says Whelan. “The threat of male violence and patriarchy became a theme but at the same time people talked about their love for their sons. When that project was over, a few of us thought there’s a project in looking at how the world shapes young men.”
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So how does Boys in the Making work? “Basically, it’s a device, a programme where a group of young guys come together and create a boy character,” she says. “They come up with his name, how he looks, what he’s wearing, who he is. And then they begin to explore what his needs are; how he’s going to experience the world around him. And they start to advise him about the things he needs to know, the things he’s up against.
“It becomes a space to critically think about masculinity, how you’re being shaped as a young man. They’re making up a story for a fictional character. But of course, they’re drawing on their own knowledge and their observations of the world ... Nothing is prescribed. The prompt is, ‘He is a boy. He’s from here, and you are responsible for him.’ And then whatever happens after that is brought into the room by the group.”
It was like we took a little piece of our ourselves and put them into this one character. So he feels like he represents us
— Sean Brophy
“They’re not often given the chance to tell their story,” says McKenna. “That’s why it’s so important to have the artists and note-takers in the room who can really write down and collect the information and then bring it back to them, saying, ‘Is this what’s been said?’ And they get to think about that again. ‘Oh, is that what I’m thinking?’”
What did the boys like about the project? “It lets other people know that young men aren’t just b****rds running around on their bikes,” says Reece. “And that even if they dress like that, everyone still has their own dreams. Everyone still has stuff that they want to do.”
Did it make them think about their own lives? “I think so,” says Sean. “About the issues young lads face ... It was interesting because it made me see how we thought we looked and how other people would look at us on an average day. The way we dressed him. The way we described him. It was like we took a little piece of ourselves and put them into this one character. So he feels like he represents us.”
“It made me think about how there is a standard that we would try to fit into, but that that doesn’t always have to be the case,” says Reece. “It was nice to hear what other people thought as well.”
“You can’t tell from how a person looks anything [about] their personality or character, whether it’s their skin colour or what they’re wearing,” says Sean. “If you want to be you and be true yourself, then do that. Some people nowadays will probably feel pressured to follow the lead and be trendy and try and look the part of other people.”
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What themes come up regularly when this work is being done? “Care, friendship, love, violence, vulnerability or lack of vulnerability,” says McKenna.
“Sexuality, gendered identity, social conditioning,” says Whelan. “It’s slow because it’s real stuff and it needs care and it needs to be led by a youth work team. So the artist has a particular role, listening to what’s coming up, and then the youth workers are checking in with young people between sessions and actually working with them as we’re trying to figure out what could be made here.”
Were they surprised by anything in particular? “With the first group I really was struck by their understanding around the performance of masculinity at play when a group of young men are together,” says Whelan. “Their articulation of it was really clear.”
Ultimately, they have something to say to the world. It’s not just an educational process [for the boys]. You’re hoping there’ll be a wider dialogue around formations of masculinity
— Dr Fiona Whelan
“The significance of a name,” says McKenna. “‘Oh, don’t let his name stand out’, or ‘Make sure his name isn’t at the start of a roll call. So no names staring with ‘a’.” She laughs. “It’s really interesting stuff. ‘Who should be in his life?’ ‘Does he have parents who are together?’ ‘Does he have parents who are LGBT?’ It’s really amazing to hear their thought processes ... I think young people know a lot more than we give them credit for.”
A few days after I visit the gallery, I do a Zoom call with Dannielle McKenna, 16-year-old Tyler Hogan and 15-year-old Pearse Higgins. Tyler and Pearse also worked on “Decco” back in 2022. They’re currently returning to the project to update him. “We’d do it a small bit different now,” says Tyler. The artist Aaron Sunderland Carey is creating a mural featuring an older Decco in the NCAD gallery.
Decco’s not entirely autobiographical, they stress. “It just came from the perspective of someone who lives in the flats or grew up with something similar,” says Tyler. “So we all picked our own little bits and put them together in one boy.”
Why did they call him Decco? “There was a meme floating around about a guy called Decco,” says Tyler. “There’s a fellah in the forest and he screams, ‘Echo’, and a man jumps down from a tree and says,” – he does a funny voice – “‘My name’s Decco are you lookin’ for me?’”
The both laugh. How does Decco dress? “He’d wear a fleece and a Canada Goose body-warmer ... Everyone was wearing that at the time,” says Pearse.
What’s his family like? “His da was German and his ma was Irish,” says Tyler. “He doesn’t know his da. But his ma told him his dad moved back to Germany to look after his nanny but I don’t think he actually did.”
What issues does he have in his life? “People drug dealing around the area,” says Tyler.
“His sister was sick,” says Pearse.
“He didn’t know if he liked boys or girls,” says Tyler. “He was vaping and hiding it from his ma. It was stuff we thought would happen for a boy his age.”
Do they feel an emotional connection to Decco? “You look back to when you were kid and you read a book and thought that would be cool if it was real,” says Tyler. “Like, as a kid, you’d want to be superhero. We made a boy and he’s basically come to life.”
This project shouldn’t be seen as a one-way educational process, says Whelan. “It’s about listening to young people, understanding and exploring and inquiring with them. Ultimately, they have something to say to the world. It’s not just an educational process [for the boys]. You’re hoping there’ll be a wider dialogue around formations of masculinity.”
Is there a lack of projects like this for young men? “I think probably ‘Yes’ is the answer to that,” says McKenna. “For young people, they talk about how a lot of the conversations that they’ve been able to have [here], were shut down in other places. We have to have those really different, difficult conversations without people feeling defensive.”
“Anecdotally, people would say there’s programmes for young women and there’s gaps [for boys],” says Whelan. “I suppose we’re just trying to see can we meet that in some way without over-claiming what we’ve got.”
Whelan and McKenna are currently working with the social and collaborative arts agency Heart of Glass which wants to bring the process to the UK. “We’re using that as an opportunity to try to develop learning resources and really articulate the methodology,” says Whelan. “Myself and Danielle have been mentoring different groups and organisations and artists but in the absence of any kind of core funding or any kind of a structure that’s not going to last.”
Is it good that their work on Decco is now in a gallery? Tyler nods. “It can show you you’re not the only ones going through [something]. A bunch of 12- or 13-year-olds came up with the same things. People have the same problems.”
Did it change them in any way? “I think it opens up your mind more and makes you think of the area you’re in,” says Tyler.
“It would have impacted my decision making on how to treat other people,” says Pearse. “You don’t know what someone is going through, like their sister being sick. We wouldn’t be quick to slag someone if they did something different. At least they’re trying something different rather than going with the crowd.”
“Other youth projects out there should get involved in it,” says Tyler. “It’s a really good exercise to do. Even if they can’t get a lot of lads together you only need a small number to get it started.”
Boys in the Making is at the NCAD Gallery until February 14th
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