Helium Arts presents beyond the box

Emma Fisher, Eszter Nemethi and Rachel Tynan. Curated by Katy Fitzpatrick

beyond the box is the materialisation of the journey taken on year one of Helium Arts' Cloudlands Project, a tri-location arts and health residency for teens in hospitals in Temple Street Children’s University Hospital, Cork University Hospital and University Hospital Galway by artists Rachel Tynan, Eszter Nemethi and Emma Fisher respectively. The exhibition represents the experience of what it is to be an artist working in this context, and is inspired by the many creative collaborations with teens over a nine- month period.

The title for the exhibition comes from the boxes that the artists used as a tool to begin their creative process with each teen. Each time the artist met a new young person, she would present a series of boxes from which the young person could choose. Within each box was an object, a seed to begin a conversation that took the artist and young person on a collaborative journey that placed at its core the voice of the teenager. beyond the box seeks to make the invisible visible, by bringing these stories, processes and experiences to a wider audience.

Through a number of participatory installations, beyond the box seeks to evoke in the viewer the feeling of what it is to be a teen in hospital, and to provoke and challenge our preconceptions. Visitors will be invited to discover hidden elements, have your world turned upside down, be a spectator / performer, and explore the imaginary worlds created by young people in hospital. Alongside the artists own installations there will be a display area showcasing some of the work made by the teens in collaboration with the artists and providing the opportunity to view the shared online space and images from year 1.

Event

Biographies:

Emma Fisher is a puppeteer, theatre designer and installation artist from Limerick. She has a degree in Fine Art (University of Wales College 2003), a postgraduate degree in Theatre Design (Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama 2005) and a diploma in Puppetry (London School of Puppetry 2008). Her work is largely based on personal and cultural memory through the use of shadows, mechanical art and puppetry. Emma set up Beyond the Bark, an inclusive puppet and installation theatre company, in 2007. In 2009, she was nominated for The Irish Times Set Designer of the year. Recent shows include Three Sisters, Benjamin's Brolly, and What Happened to Bridgie Cleary.

Eszter Némethi is a theatre maker and holds a BA in Drama and Theatre Studies from UCC. She has a special interest in collaborative performance making in various contexts. Her work centres on "real" non-actor performers and collaborators, strongly defined spaces and a special attention to the audience's experience and engagement. Over the past year, Eszter has been exploring the use of game-mechanics and interactivity in her work. Eszter is the artistic director of Makeshift Ensemble and director of the company's productions to date, Exit Strategy (2013), No One Can Hear You In There (2012) and Osteoporosis (2011). She is also curator of the multi-disciplinary arts event Quarter.

Rachel Tynan graduated from the National College of Art and Design (BA Art and Design Education) in 2009. She recently completed her Masters in Design, examining the effects illness has on the human body through textile, sculpture and body art. She exhibited Soar Saor as part of The Ark’s Awakening Curiosity exhibition (2012) and her solo exhibition Cut Throat at The Lab (2012) pushed her work beyond the fixed manifestations of installation with an explorative dance performance which further explored the experience of living with an illness.
www.racheltynan.ie

Cloudlands is an arts and technology project for teenagers with chronic illnesses. Year 1 of the project took place between November 2012 and July 2013 in Children’s University Hospital, Temple Street; Galway University Hospital and Cork University Hospital. The project places an artist in residence in each of the three hospitals where they work collaboratively with participants to develop new work based on the participants’ stories, interests and experiences. The project uses a shared online creative space where artists and teenagers can share their work and collaborate across the three hospitals. Year 2 of the project will begin in October 2013.

Helium is an arts and health organisation fostering a culture of creativity within Irish healthcare for children and young people, through the development of participatory arts programmes in community, primary, and acute healthcare environments. Our mission is to create positive experiences of hospital and healthcare settings for young people, to support a child-centred model of healthcare through the arts, and to innovate models of arts practice which give a creative voice to young people living with illness.

Pallas Projects/Studios is a grassroots artist-run initiative, operating studios and a project space in The Coombe, Dublin 8. PP/S collaborates with peers to engage and develop current Irish contemporary art, through the provision of affordable artists’ work-spaces, and an ongoing commitment to presenting solo projects by Irish and international artists, alongside occasional thematic group exhibitions, artist-initiated projects and collaborations with partner arts organisations.

Cloudlands is funded by: the BNP Paribas Foundation Smart Start Programme, The Medtronic Foundation, PepsiCo Ireland, and The Arts Council. Cloudlands is further supported by The Ireland Funds, The Community Foundation for Ireland, Dublin City Council, The National Lottery through HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster, Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust, HSE South, Cork City Council, Cork University Hospital Arts Committee and NCAD.

With special thanks to Mark Storor; Caroline Flynn, Jane Curtin, Suzanne Dempse, and the Play Specialist Team Temple Street; Margaret Flannery, Aoife Morrisey, and the nursing staff at University Hospital Galway; Marie Watson, Andrea Moriarty, Gobnait Curran, Edelle Nolan, Peter Dineen, John Paul O’Shea and the nursing and school staff at Cork University Hospital; Fionnuala Conway and Mark Linnane; and most of all to all of the young people who participated in year 1.