John Conway—Object Im/permanence

Pallas Projects/Studios are pleased to present Jane Cassidy—The Thin Veil- the second exhibition of our 2020/21 Artist-Initiated Projects programme.

The Thin Veil is an audiovisual installation that tries to capture the otherworldliness of the sea, the sand and the stars. The film and sound were recorded while on residency at the Cill Rialaig Project in Co. Kerry. The residency is based on the side of a mountain, surrounded by the ocean, on what feels like the edge of the world. My friend told me as we explored a fort hidden on the side of Bolus Head that it brought to mind a Caol Áit, a narrow passage between this world and another, and I felt it.

The film's slow and magnetic rhythm mimics deep breathing, lighting the room up and bringing it down to darkness. This installation presents a mesmerizing earthly cosmos through the infinite complexities of sand and water, where looking to the minute in the sea draws attention to the immensity of looking up to the stars.

Due to the pandemic, the breathing workshop could not go ahead as planned. Instead, Johnny Taylor made a deep breathing guided meditation.

Breathing Meditation led by Johnny Taylor

This guided meditation is offered in conjunction with Jane’s video piece The Thin Veil which, as she explains, is influenced by her own conscious breathing and meditation practices. It is designed to guide us in a journey of quieting our minds and bringing a greater awareness to the natural and deep flow of our breathing. Many spiritual traditions point to the power that the breath has to bring us into the present moment and to feel the life force energy that sustains our very being throughout our lives. Meditating on the breath is at once intimate and universal: it brings us deeply into our own bodies and also allows us to sense our connection to the natural world all around us and what it feels like to be experiencing life on the earth, through these bodies, at this present moment.

Event

Biographies:

Jane Cassidy is a multi-disciplinary artist and educator from Galway, Ireland. Trained in music and visual art, Jane earned a Masters in Music and Media Technologies from TCD in 2008 and an MFA in Digital Art from Tulane University in New Orleans in 2014. Jane’s main interests lie in immersive audio-visual environments, visual music, live VJing and multi-channel work. Cassidy has had solo shows at the Mobile Museum of Art, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, the University of New Orleans, and the Ann Arbor Film Festival. Exhibitions include the European Media Art Festival, Germany, the New Orleans Film Festival, Punto Y Raya Festival, Spain, Currents New Media Festival, New Mexico, Galway International Arts Festival, live visuals for Animal Collective and Nanu Nanu, as well as group shows internationally. Currently, Jane is the Assistant Professor of Digital Media at Boston College in Massachusetts.
www.janecassidy.net

Johnny Taylor is a musician, a yoga enthusiast, a meditator, a teacher and a believer in all practices that promote embodied living in the world. He has a passion for the power of yoga and embodiment practices to unlock our creative potential and reveal the innate wisdom and potential that our bodies hold. By connecting with the body and breath, we open ourselves to ever wider perspectives and a greater integration with one another and our place in the flow of the natural world around us.

Jane Cassidy—The Thin Veil

Artist-Initiated Projects at Pallas Projects/Studios is an open-submission, annual gallery programme of 10 x 3-week exhibitions taking place at rescheduled dates from August 2020, in the context of a gallery space with a dedicated tradition towards the professional development of artists in a peer-led, supportive environment. 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.

Artist-Initiated Projects aims to act as an incubator for early careers, and support artists' practices at crucial stages, providing a platform for artists to produce and exhibit challenging work across all art forms. The model of short-run exhibitions with a relatively short turnaround time of 3–6 months is an alternative to the normal institutional model, where the process of studio visit to exhibition can take several years. Shorter lead-in times allow the programme to be quick and responsive, reflect what artists are currently making, and encourage experimentation and risk-taking.