latest news
27th January 2023
website: I am working on updating this website at the minute so please excuse slow updates
20th January 2023
talk: Myth-ecology and Technology, Techne logos, Care and the (neg) Anthropocene, European Technological University, TU Dublin
I presented work at the 3rd EUT annual conference on technology, care and mythology.
19th November 2022
launch: Assembly, Jackie Clarke Collection, Ballina, Co. Mayo
A new interactive, immersie installation has been created and installed at the Jackie Clarke Collection, Ballina, Co. Mayo.
The work draws from the history of the Civil War period in Ireland, and explores the fringe and untold stories of those who lived then and today, both human and nonhuman.
Using technologies from that time, and from today, entwined strings of stories are presented as abstract films, prints sensor-based media, autograph books and an ad-hoc network.
The launch featured talks from Dr. El Putnam (artist-philosopher and Assistant Professor of Digital Media at NUI Maynooth), Cllr. Mark Duffy (Cathaoirleach Ballina MD), and Anne Marie FOrbes (acting manager, Jackie Clarke Collection), chaired by Ann Marie McGing (Arts Officer, Mayo County Council).
This is the result of a 6-month residency supported by Mayo Arts Office and Decade of Centenaries funding.
18th November 2022
news feature: New exhibition draws on Ballina’s stories, Western People
A news article covering the launch and exhibition of the new artwork Assembly at the Jackie Clarke Collection, Ballina, Co. Mayo.
11th November 2022
launch: Púca in the Machine, Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray
The third and final leg of the exhibition Púca in the Machine launched at the Mermaid Arts Centre in Bray on Friday, November 11th 2022.
5th November 2022
talk: Myth-Ecology and Technology, Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre, Limavady, Northern Ireland
A talk about the linked ideas and the research that supported the project Púca in the Machine.
8th October 2022
exhibition launch: púca in the machine, Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre, Limavady, Northern Ireland
The launch of the first in a 2-stage tour of the art-research project that I coordinated in 2022, Púca in the Machine took place on October 8th 2022.
The exhibition will run until November 5th 2022.
20th September 2022
new art space: ^, Main Street, Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim
In September 2022, a small group of humans (artists, repairers, hackers, breakers, foragers, growers) collectively opened a space in north-west Ireland. This porous territory will host us, at least for a short while. I am one of the co-founders of ^
This is a three storey building for experimental collaboration, creating new work and developing conversations led by ethics of care and contemporary philosophy on the more-than-human.
Gaining space is an act that we consider radical in a time of pandemic and digital space, when territories and boundaries are taking on new meanings. As artists, we have a small group that are dedicated to broadening conversations on what it means to collaborate, including considering what these porous borders at the edge of our bodies might represent.
10th September 2022
panel talk: stories of change, Artlink, Buncrana, Co. Donegal, Ireland
I have been invited to present as part of a panel at the 2022 Stories of Change event at Artlink, taking place on the 24th of September 2022 off-site in Buncrana.
This is one of four events happening around Ireland focussed on positive change through art, farming, and sustainable action.
10th September 2022
presentation: what will remain, Jackie Clarke Collection, Ballina, Co. Mayo, Ireland
As part of Culture Night 2022, a presentation and in-person work session about a new installation on collecting.
The work is being built on-site in an ongoing installation that is growing in the space as a collection of historical and contemporary moments.
2nd September 2022
Blog post: togetherwork, Wicklow Connect artist panel blog
An article about collaborative practice, and different projects since 2007, with a view to understanding what works in different areas.
28th August 2022
Interview: Western People, Mayo
I was interviewed about my ongoing residency with the Jackie Clarke Collection for the Western People newspaper in August 2022, in advance of presenting new work.
1st June 2022
Collaborative discussion: Debugging as Collaborative Practice, AMRO (Art Meets Radical Openness), Linz, Austria
In mid-June 2022, I will co-present a session at AMRO about experimental art practice with collaborative partners. This session will combine experiences from my group Kinship Group 26 with the recent project Swap Space.
Partners from both projects will lead a session challenging what collaboration is, and how it can be used as a process to debug the self.
AMRO is a biennial Festival dedicated to Art, Hacktivism and Open Culture. The 2022 edition is run under the theme 'debug'.
31st May 2022
Masterclass: Computer Programming for Artists, Leitrim Sculpture Centre, Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim
A 3-day masterclass in using technology as an artist, with a focus on open source technologies. Spaces limited to six.
Part of Leitrim Sculpture Centre's series of masterclasses for 2022.
23rd May 2022
Project Residency: Decade of Centenaries, Jackie Clarke Collection, Ballina, Co. Mayo
I have been awarded a 6-month residency working with the community of Ballina and the historical objects that make up the Jackie Clarke Collection.
On this residency I am considering the importance of technology, place, human and nonhuman aspects in collecting and recording histories and futures.
1st April 2022
Collaborative Research Residency: Swap Space, Reagenz, Graz, Austria
I was invited to be artist in residence on an experimental collaboration with research and artistic partners in Graz and Hotelpupik, Scheifling, Austria for April 2022.
The project is researching and documenting how collaboration occurs when artists work both collectively and individually on a collective concept. This iteration includes research into posthuman philosophy, trace, arrivals and liminal spaces.
It is a pilot for the 3-year project SimulArr at the Graz University for Performing Arts and Music.
The other colaborating partners are Nayarí Castillo (artist, Graz/Venezuela), Franziska Hederer (architectural researcher, Graz), Jackie Karuti (Artist, Nairobi), Alisa Kobzar (research assistanct, Graz/Ukraine), David Pirrò (sound artist, Graz/Italy), Consuelo Mendez (Venezuela) and PI Hanns Holger Rutz (sound artist, Graz/Germany).
17th March 2022
Residency: Artlink, Fort Dunree, Donegal
A new residency that will take place over four seasons, carried out at the equinoxes (March and September) and the solstices (June and December) 2022 before exhibiting research on a new project in March 2023.
The project will evolve over this period and new research will be posted on this site intermittently.
4th February 2022
Exhibition Website: Púca in the Machine, Blessington, Wicklow
Website and online ticket booking now available for the launch of Púca in the Machine.
The website features information about the project research and the three artists involved.
24th January 2022
Project: Púca in the Machine, Blessington, Wicklow
New artworks in progress and new exhibition soon coming at Blessington Library, Wicklow, Ireland. The project, coordinated by Shane Finan and featuring artworks from Finan, Niamh Fahy and Alannah Robins, will feature a publication and new artworks launching on February 17th.
The collaboration is about the more-than-human, mythological, ecological and technological stories surrounding the flooding of Poulaphuca Reservoir, Wicklow, in the 1930s.
More to follow in the coming weeks.
13th January 2022
Artist Talk: FIELD artists at Museum of English Rural Life, Reading
Artists Shane Finan, Michele Allen and Mark Richard Jones will speak at the Museum of English Rural Life about project FIELD on January 19th 2021, to be recorded and released online. This will be the first time that the three collaborating artists, hampered by the ongoing pandemic, will all meet in person.
Travel to the talk supported by Culture Ireland.
11th December 2021
Artist Talk: Shane Finan at Assembly House, Newcastle Arts Centre
Shane Finan gives an informal talk at Assembly House, Newcastle Arts Centre, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. This is part of the ENTWINED exhibition programme by VARC.
Travel to the talk supported by Culture Ireland. Photograph by Colin Davison, Rosella Studios.
9th December 2021
Documentary: Shane Finan Explores the Wildwood
A short documentary about my work with the Kielderhead Wildwood Project is now available online.
Recorded and edited by Alan Fentiman on behalf of Northumberland Wildlife Trust.
latest exhibitions
Assembly
sep 1st 2022-jan 31st 2023 Jackie Clarke Collection, Ballina, Co. Mayo, Ireland
An ongoing art installation influenced by the museum collection that changes weekly until the official launch on November 19th 2022 by Dr. El Putnam.
Púca in the Machine leg iii
nov 12th 2022-jan 7th 2023 Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland
The third leg of the exhibition of research-based artworks from the Poulaphuca Reservoir. More information at this link.
Púca in the Machine leg ii
The second leg of the exhibition of research-based artworks from the Poulaphuca Reservoir
Swap Space Graz
april 28th-29th 2022 Reagenz Ost, Graz, Austria
Presentation of research artworks from one-month residency in Graz, combining research and collaborations from the Swap Space team into an interactive artwork about the nonhuman and human traces that are created when we move into and through a place.
Púca in the Machine
february 17th-march 5th 2022 Blessington Library, Blessington, Wicklow, Ireland
Exhibition of artistic research and works in progress from a new project about the more-than-human at a flooded valley and reservoir, Poulaphuca, in west Wicklow, Ireland.
Supported by:
ENTWINED
december 1st-14th 2021 Assembly House, Newcastle Arts Centre, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK
Two artworks are showing at the second leg of ENTWINED as the exhibition tours to a Newcastle venue.
Supported by:
Reboot Me Softly, 19th annual Piksel Festival for Electronic Art and Free Technologies
november 18th 2021 - november 21st 2021 Piksel 21, Bergen, Norway
Two interactive artworks have been selected to be part of the 2021 exhibition programme for Piksel, an international network and annual event for electronic art and technological freedom.
The works are part of the broader programme of events. Two artworks exhibiting are Macalla (2021) from the The Wood Wide Web and It seemed like we were moving closer together from the 2021 solo exhibition Detached Touch.
FIELDS
Drawings and stories included in work on show at the Museum of English Rural Life. Three artists are exhibiting, including Michele Allen and Mark Richard Jones.
Other work on show includes academic writing, fieldwork and other public engagement pieces from the 6-university interdisciplinary research project FIELD.
Photograph courtesy FIELD project
17th Athens Digital Arts Festival
september 20th - october 31st 2021 tāctus, Historic Center of Athens, Greece
The film Because the Exchange is Complete will screen at the 17th Athens Digital Arts Festival 2021 edition, which is a blended online and in-person event.
FIELDS Farming on Film
september 28th, october 21st and november 18th 2021 FIELDS, various locations, England
The film Because the Exchange is Complete will screen at the Hexham Forum Cinema, Hexham (28 Sept), the Star and Shadow Cinema, Newcastle (21 Oct) and Everyman Cinema, Lincoln (18 Nov) as part of the FIELDS public outreach programme of FIELD, following a 6-month research residency.
ENTWINED
The two year, multi-partner ENTWINED:Rural.Land.Lives.Art. programme exhibits works by six resident artists curated by Cynthia Morisson Bell (artcircuit)
detached touch
august 13th-september 4th 2021 Leitrim Sculpture Centre, Manorhamilton, Ireland
Solo exhibition presenting three new interactive and technology-led installations about technology, contact, and more-than-human connections
FIELDS Markets
august 8th - october 16th 2021 FIELDS, various locations, England
Works about animal and human connections involving lameness and vulnerability presented as part of the public engagement programme of FIELD, following a 6-month research residency.
Sunday 8 August: Nuns Moor Park Bike Garden mini-market
Nuns Moor Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5NU
10am - 2pm
Saturday 28 August: Louth Market
Cornmarket, Louth, LN11 9PD
9am - 4pm
Saturday 11 September: Beverley Market
Market Pl, Beverley, HU17 8EA
8am - 4pm
Saturday 25 September: Hexham Farmers Market
Market Pl, Hexham, NE46 1XQ
9am - 1pm
Saturday 16 October: Grainger Market
Grainger St, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 5QQ
9am - 4pm
open studio
april 26th 2021 VARC, Highgreen, Northumberland UK
VARC artists in residence Catriona Gallagher and Shane Finan showing work from the adventurous three-year programme ENTWINED. Rural. Land. Lives. Art. Shane will stage a new interactive performative installation.