Output details

'Go Home' and 'Out the Road' (Digital Artefacts - film -high-definition installation with stereo sound. Various durations)

A body of filmed research resulting in a four-film installation. Solo exhibition with Hugh Lane /NCAD Gallery, Dublin, 2013, supported by the ‘The Impossible Conversation’, a series of public talks and symposium exploring issues raised by the work; and Void/City Factory Gallery, Derry, as part of UK City of Culture 2013 programme. Exhibition supported by printed pamphlets exploring themes raised by the work. Building on research undertaken for When I Leave These Landings (2004 – 2009), Go Home examines ex-paramilitary-prisoners’ mediation and construction of identity upon leaving the familiar structures and community of prison life, reintegration with society, and the impact of shifting ideological positions on self 'Out the Road' addresses the impact of destine paramilitary on their families. Ethical issues relating to the representation of participants and their rights over the films play an important role in the methodology, form and content of the work. Research extends knowledge regarding the prisoner in society; specifically, the post-release experience of ex-prisoners. Methods consider trust and dialogue in pedagogical and research relations (Oury, Arendt, O’Donnell), encountering extreme points of view, entering and sustaining dialogue, and who has the right to speak and with whom (Guenther, Visker)? In so doing, the research also aims to address the issues of ethics and representation involved in such a practice. The research has produced supporting notes in the form of filmed roundtable discussions regarding art and education in prisons (2010) with ex-prisoners, artists and academics. The research aims to extend the reach of lens-based art practice and other forms of qualitative and practice-based research to areas as diverse as public policy, education and health. Excerpts screened/papers presented at events such as: AICA Censorship Colloquium, Belfast, 2012; ‘Public-Education’, Grad-Cam/The Lab. Dublin, 2012; Re-Imagining Imprisonment in Europe’, Trinity College Dublin, 2012; ‘Engendering Dialogue, Univ Dundee, 2012; ‘A Sense of Being’, Grundtvig symposium, NCAD, Dublin, 2011; European Prison Education Association Conference, Manchester, 2011.