Conan McIvor—THE ESTATE

Pallas Projects/Studios are pleased to announce Conan McIvor—The Estate, the eighth and final exhibition of our 2024 Artist-Initiated Projects programme.

The Estate is an immersive virtual game experience that draws on elements of visual installation, theatre, social media, pop culture, music and dance in exploring the ideas and values surrounding young working class men in Belfast growing up during the pandemic period, specifically notions of masculinity, body image, emotional relationships, and attitudes to sexuality and gender. 

The work was created in Unreal Engine 4 with the aim of engaging a young male working class audience - an often overlooked demographic in the arts. The focus of the project sought to give voice to their concerns and experiences and presented in colloquial language native to them, i.e. a video game installation – think Grand Theft Auto meets Dublin Oldschool.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a workshop with inner city 16-23 year old young men to experience the installation, offer feedback and evaluation and create a space for them to contribute to what a Dublin City Virtual Estate might look like and reflect their interests. Participants will also be joined by a group from Belfast to start a conversation between youth of both cities, exploring the challenges and opportunities in their respective communities.

A NEW ESTATE is currently in development with arts production company Dumbworld with support from Arts Council NI / Future Screens NI Digital Evolution Programme. This will realizes a new and refined virtual experience using Unreal 5 games engine and new motion capture and scanning technology in a new virtual development. The content of this version would recognize the urgent current concerns of Belfast youth in a post-pandemic/recession-impending world and this will be reflected in the virtual world of A New Estate. 

Pallas Projects are delighted to partner with Beta Festival.

Conan McIvor—The Estate is included in their Local Artists Network which is dedicated to spotlight new work by some of Ireland’s most exciting artists experimenting with art and technology.

Conan will take part in Conference Day 02.11.24 Location: The Digital Depot

PANEL: "Future Archives: Digital Practices and Cultural Memory"

Basil Al-Rawi, Beulah Ezeugo, Conan McIvor - Luke Clancy (Moderator)

In an age where memory and history are increasingly mediated through digital tools, how do we preserve and reimagine our cultural archives? Faced with increasingly challenges surrounding access and openness and the consolidation of memory and knowledge controlled by private entities, this panel brings together artists and researchers working at the intersection of technology, memory, and storytelling to explore the future of archiving. Conan McIvor, a video artist and filmmaker, examines the relationship between physical spaces and digital environments in creating immersive memory landscapes. Theo Little shares his experience managing Beyond 2022, a project reconstructing the lost Public Record Office of Ireland through cutting-edge digital techniques. Beulah Ezeugo, an Igbo curator, uses collective memory and myth to dream up postcolonial futures, while Basil Al-Rawi, a multidisciplinary artist, investigates how digital mediation and archival recomposition create new connections to the past. Together, they will explore how digital practices can reframe cultural memory and reshape our future archives.

For more information see: http://betafestival.ie

Conan McIvor, The Estate, 2024.

Biography:

Conan McIvor is a Director and Undisciplinary artist who tells stories across and in-between Cinema, Theatre, Immersive and Visual Art. He creates theatre productions, fiction, documentary and experimental films, video installations, immersive environments and projection design for live performance. His work has been exhibited in galleries, festivals, national theatres, cinemas, broadcast on national television and held in the Arts Council Northern Ireland collection. Conan studied Interactive Multimedia Design at Ulster University before receiving an MA in Film and Visual Studies from Queen’s University Belfast during which he was awarded NI Screen’s Bill Miskelly Award. Most recently, Conan received a certificate in Storytelling for the Metaverse from the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology. Conan received an Arts Council Ireland Theatre Bursary 2022 to expand his practice as a Theatre Director & Designer. His sell-out production Waiting For The Offo at The New Theatre Dublin marked his 50th design credit and 1st directing credit for the stage. In 2022, Conan was nominated for Best Video Design at The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards, received the Visual Artists Ireland Experience Award with Vivienne Dick, received D-Light Studios Dublin Creative Residency Award, and was the British Council’s Filmmaker-in-Residence at Centre Culturel Irlandais Paris. Most recently Conan was an AUGE NEXT Artist-in-Residence at the Athens Digital Arts Festival Summer 2024. Conan is currently a student on the M.F.A. Theatre Directing programme at The Lir, Trinity College Dublin.

conanmcivor.com | @conanmcivor

Additional Credits:

John D’Arcy – Creative Technologist
Leonid Kuzmenko – Game Developer
Mahon McCann – Writer
James Joys – Composer
Cillian Lenaghan – Actor
Barry Simpson – Actor
Ryan O’Neill – Contemporary dancer
Ruaidhri Maguire – Ballet dancer
Ben Purdy – Supporting Actor
Stevie Lennox - Sound Recordist
Robbi Rai Purdy – Engagement advisor/evaluation
Daniel Ritchie – Production Assistant

Special thanks to Dumbworld for production support.

Commissioned by Future Screens NI/Lyric Theatre Live-to-digital.
A film version was previously screened as part of IRISH FOCUS at Dancer from the Dance Festival 2022, IFI Dublin

Conan McIvor, The Estate, 2024, interview with the Artist.

Artist-Initiated Projects at Pallas Projects/Studios is an open-submission, annual gallery programme of 8 x 3-week exhibitions taking place from March-November 2024. This unique programme of funded, artist-initiated projects selected via open call is highly accessible to artists, with a focus on early career, emerging artists and recent graduates. Projects are supplemented with artists' talks, texts, workshops or performances, and gallery visits by colleges and local schools.