latest news
28th November 2023
website: I am working on updating this website at the minute so please excuse slow updates
18th November 2023
collaboration: varia at ^, Manorhamilton, Ireland
As part of my Arts Council of Ireland bursary award, I have been working with Rotterdam-based arts collective varia on developing skills and understanding for building data servers based on feminist and posthuman principles.
This has included opening a collaboration between my collective ^ and varia, who visited Manorhamilton in November 2023. Photograph by Cían Flynn
13th November 2023
event: Designweek Leitrim 2023, Manorhamilton and Carrick-on-Shannon, Ireland
I was invited to programme events for Designweek 2023 in Leitrim by Creative Heartlands and Leitrim Design House to programme 2023 design week events.
The events included a one-day workshop on artist-led servers by Rotterdam-based collective varia and a panel discussion on myth and Irish techno-cosmology by collaborators writer Mike McCormack and artist El Putnam, chaired by Dr. Paul O'Neill of Dublin Art and Technology Association. Photograph by Cían Flynn
26th October 2023
event: Púca in the Machine 2023, Blessington Library, Wicklow, Ireland
Three artists present new works about the Poulaphuca Reservoir, in a project that I have led since 2021.
Visual artist Saidhbhín Gibson (Kildare) has drawn from an 1842 etching that presented the Poulaphuca waterfalls before the area was flooded, when it was a popular tourist site for wealthy patrons, and has created a new video and three handkerchiefs that respond to the area today. Multimedia artist Margaret O'Brien (Liverpool) has created a fuel cell from soil at the reservoir, and has worked with local Ballyknockan-based signer Fiona Lyons to create sung responses to the lake. Writer Robert Barrett (Wicklow) has written short monologues of the critters, human and nonhuman, that exist(ed) beneath the water and will play recordings of these monologues through a 1940s radio that has been repaired for the presentation.
25th October 2023
publication: stepping in cracks, Swap Spaces, Reagenz, Graz, Austria
A chapter in the book Swap Spaces, which documents the 2022 project Swap Space which I was a collaborating artist on.
The chapter is a poetic reflection that documents how the work came together, and how I saw my own role in the broader collaboration.
25th October 2023
talk: Swapped Space, Kunstverein Graz, Austria
Presented a prerecorded talk at Kunstverein Graz as part of the launch of the book Swap Spaces.
15th September 2023
new artwork: Féth Fíada, How It's Made, Creative Places Balbriggan, Dublin
A new artwork was created drawing links between electricity and myth/magic, from the perspective of my first mobile phone. Developed for How It's Made and commissioned by curator Valeria Ceregini.
The artwork is a 3-screen video essay that includes a program that converts the written essay into binary code. The full installation (7 minutes, 30 seconds) can be viewed at this link.
7th September 2023
event: BENBO AWAKE, ^, Manorhamilton
A final event for the project waking the land, the collective at ^ built a banner and staged a social event at ^ in Manorhamilton, Leitrim.
3rd July 2023
social events: Waking the Land, ^, Manorhamilton
As part of the collective ^, we are coordinating new artist-led social events each Thursday in August 2023 for the project Waking the Land. Each week a different artist will hold space at ^. More information at this link.
3rd July 2023
interview: Assembly at the Jackie Clarke Collection
Interview film by Anula Productions and supported by the Jackie Clarke Collection about the artwork Assembly, created as Decade of Centenaries Artist in Residence 2022.
1st July 2023
documentation: The Question Concerning Technology in Ireland?: Art, Decoloniality and Speculations of an Irish Cosmotechnics by Dr. El Putnam, MDPI Arts 2023, 12(3)
Dr. El Putnam's publication features an academic response to the artwork Assembly (2022) by Shane Finan as part of an evolving Irish cosmotechnics. The paper explores this alongside work by ANNEX and Putnam's own performances.
1st July 2023
new project: Waking The Land
With the collective ^, a new project has begun partnered with the Glens Centre Manorhamilton and supported by the Irish Hospice Foundation's Compassionate Culture Network. The project will explore environmental loss and rural depopulation using the Black Lough on Benbo mountain as a storytelling device.
21st June 2023
publication: Wood Wide Web, in Reseeding published by the Kielderhead Wildwood Project
A chapter in the book contains a photographic artwork series based on time spent at the Kielderhead Wildwood Project on the residency Wood Wide Web. The publication was launched at Northern Stage, Newcastle, where I presented the work in a 10-minute talk to an invited audience of ecologists, artists, volunteer planters and the public.
1st June 2023
launch: COMPOST Issue 3, ^, Manorhamilton
COMPOST Issue 3: Water is launching across June and July in venues local to the contributors, worldwide. Launches are taking place in LA, Delhi, London and Manorhamilton. The Manorhamilton launch was also the first public opening for the new art-research collective space ^
31st May 2023
publication: mischief, submerged, COMPOST Issue 3: Water
A prose essay about the entanglement of myth, ecology and technology at the Poulaphuca Reservoir, Wicklow, published in Issue 3 of the collaborative online magazine COMPOST
Once accepted, Púca then takes the person on a wild journey between our world and the realm of na daoine mhaithe (the good folk, sometimes referred to as fair folk or fairies), scaring the unsuspecting human until their hair turns grey. Sometimes the passenger falls off and is trapped in that other realm. Púca's ability to cross between worlds makes them capable of unpredictable mischief.
21st May 2023
exhibition: DISTRO, Cavan Arts Festival, Cavan, Ireland
A collection of zines by the collective ^ and a book about the project Púca in the Machine both exhibited at DISTRO, Cavan Arts Festival, an exhibition of self-published books and zines in Ireland, curated by Chloe Maguire.
17th April 2023
documentary: Artflicks, Artlink
A 10-minute documentary about my work with lichen at Artlink Fort Dunree. View the video at this link.
2nd April 2023
kickoff: Púca in the Machine 2023, Poulaphuca, Wicklow
The second edition of the art-research collaboration Púca in the Machine kicked off with a meeting of the 2023 artists Margaret O'Brien, Saidhbhín Gibson and Robert Barrett. The artists met at Poulaphuca and walked the shores, guided by me as project manager.
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.
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.
How It's Made
sep 15th-23rd 2023 Creative Places, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin, Ireland
Group exhbition and events curated by Valeria Ceregini. New artwork created for the exhibition, and a presentation given on art, technology and myth.
BENBO AWAKE
sep 7th 2023 ^, Main Street, Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim, Ireland
New collaborative banner artwork created with other ^ members Laura McMorrow, James Kelly and Tara Baoth Mooney.
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.