IADT Degree Students ​—
In the making

In the making

Michael Byrne, Aisling Flood, Tom Garrett, Jade Hennessy, Jacinta Keane, Ali Kemal Ali, Zunaira Khurshid, Dorota Konczewska, Emma McKeagney, Ash Middleton, Johnny David Wynne, Léa Blanchard, Rachel Byrne, Sorcha Carey, Laura Knox, Conor Leonard, Lorcan McGeough, Tiziana Piussi, Ciara Reid, Megan Robinson, Elinor Sherwood, Amanda Connolly, Aisling Cooling Nolan, Suzanne Daly Clancy, Dawn Greenwood, Amy Harlow, Stephen Hickey, Hannah Kennedy, Daire McEvoy, Trudie Mitchell, Alice O’Connor.

in the making presents a taste of the future. For three weeks in November 2016, Pallas Projects provides an exciting platform for emerging art practices, hosting three consecutive exhibitions of new work by degree year students from IADT’s BA in Art. Conceived as an experiment in learning through exhibition-making, the project has been developed with guidance from PP/S co-curator Gavin Murphy and assistance from post-graduate students on IADT’s MA in Art & Research Collaboration (ARC). Each exhibition will provide an early-stage glimpse into the ideas, materials and techniques currently being researched and tested by the BA students and a valuable opportunity for them to extend their practices beyond the IADT studios.

in the making is conceived in three instalments, titled SPARK, FORGE and QUENCH. Three invited respondents— Linda Shevlin, Paul McAree and Lee Welch—have each been asked to engage with one instalment and they will be in conversation with IADT students as part of the exhibition’s public programme.

The three exhibition openings will take place from 6pm to 8pm, on Thursdays November 3, November 10 and November 17, 2016.

Each exhibition will also be open to the public on Fridays, 12–6pm, and Saturdays, 12–2pm. (Please note the earlier Saturday closing time).

In the making 1: SPARK

Amanda Connolly, Aisling Cooling Nolan, Suzanne Daly Clancy, Dawn Greenwood, Amy Harlow, Stephen Hickey, Hannah Kennedy, Daire McEvoy, Trudie Mitchell, Alice O’Connor.

Spark is from the old English Spearca, referring to a "glowing or fiery particle thrown off”. Part one of a three-part exhibition run by the graduating class of the undergraduate Art program at IADT, SPARK showcases work that is much alike to these fiery particles, as they demonstrate the beginning of a process.

Particular attention to the use of materials is explicit throughout the exhibition, especially in the works of Daire McEvoy and Amy Harlow. This consideration of materials is apparent again in Trudie Mitchell’s piece as she examines more natural forms. Dawn Greenwood and Aisling Cooling Nolan research aspects of architecture in their works, while Suzanne Daly Clancy questions diversity and prejudice through focusing on the human form in a series of self-portraits.

Fantastic and dreamlike attributes are evident in the works of Hannah Kennedy and Alice O’ Connor, whereas Amanda Connolly uses a contrasting cold and clinical approach in her paintings. This inhospitable manner is echoed to some extent in Stephen Hickey’s print, as a dystopian world is portrayed.

The topics of curiosity, predisposition, and deterioration are demonstrated throughout, as well as the possibility of the evolving research becoming an artwork in itself. This instalment of in the making acknowledges the launch into a course of action, much like a spark will be thrown off and intensify.

In the making 2: FORGE

Léa Blanchard, Rachel Byrne, Sorcha Carey, Laura Knox, Conor Leonard, Lorcan McGeough, Tiziana Piussi, Ciara Reid, Megan Robinson, Elinor Sherwood

FORGE is the second instalment of in the making, a three-part exhibition of new work by IADT degree year Art students at Pallas Projects in November 2016.
The word FORGE (fohr-j) has a molten feel to it as it surges out of your mouth; the fff gently bites your bottom lip before the orr boils in the backs of your cheeks, softly melting jjj back over your tongue as you release it. Much like the process of creation, the word when repeated again and again folds and kneads itself in your mouth as materials and concepts fold and knead themselves in your hands. Part 2 of a three-part exhibition, FORGE presents a showcase of works that are in a tumultuous state of transience and fluctuation.

FORGE brings the viewer face to face with concepts of the abnormal in day-to-day life and a certain recognisability of the unknown. The work of Ciara Reid lets you step in to a state of hyperreality while the work of Conor Leonard shows you a reality we know only too well. Sorcha Carey alters the function of an object shedding light on an unseen shift in correspondence.

Attention is drawn to the states of change your mind and body go through as shown by Elinor Sherwood’s work, but also the change and transformation that occurs in natural process considered by Lorcan McGeough. Rachel Byrne melds the human body with machine in order to visualise the process of involuntary functions.

Perfection in nature is meticulously sought after by Laura Knox, while Léa Blanchard explores the nature of systems in a man-made world that strives for consistency. Megan Robinson examines the relationship between structural forms and lines through paint while Tiziana Piussi shows the effect time and movement can have within a space.

In the making 3: QUENCH

Michael Byrne, Aisling Flood, Tom Garrett, Jade Hennessy, Jacinta Keane, Ali Kemal Ali, Zunaira Khurshid, Dorota Konczewska, Emma McKeagney, Ash Middleton, Johnny David Wynne

QUENCH is the last instalment of in the making, a three-part exhibition of new work by IADT degree year Art students at Pallas Projects in November 2016.

To quench a thirst is satisfying, but over time thirst returns: to quench is to defer.  Similarly this exhibition acts as conclusion to a three-part exhibition but the implications of this conclusion must necessarily be postponed. QUENCH essentially acts as both a terminus to a valuable phase of experimentation and collaboration in Pallas Projects and the foundation to a new stage of development where these experiences will foster something new, unexpected and strange.

Inspired by the Workers Solidarity Movement, Jade Hennessy uses painting to respond to issues of social mobility. The sculptures of Emma McKeagney act to highlight humanity’s displaced attitude towards the environment. A connected sense of dislocation and anxiety is evident in Johnny David Wynne’s photographs while, conflictingly, tactile human intimacy is explored in Ash Middleton’s digital projection.

A focus on the fragility of the human body is seen in Dorota Konczewska’s moving image work. A similar sensitivity imbues Zunaira Khurshid’s light experiments, which are used to reflect on the way personality alters with time. At variance to this, Ali Kemal Ali uses sculpture to give geometric objects a creature-like quality.

Working with people living with Alzheimer’s has inspired Aisling Flood’s interactive piece that explores the calming effect of imagery. A print by Tom Garrett exhibits a fascination with the digital world and how it can be manipulated. Two distinct approaches to painting are seen in Jacinta Keane and Michael Byrne’s work; Keane meticulously renders forgotten objects while Byrne uses irony and humour to create an imaginary meeting of Beatrice Potter and Vincent Van Gogh.

Events

In the making is conceived as an experiment in learning through exhibition-making, the project has been developed with guidance from PP/S co-director Gavin Murphy, and assistance from post-graduate students on IADT’s MA in Art & Research Collaboration (ARC).