ASPECT 2015 Catalogue

KERRY COUNTY MUSEUM 11TH JUNE - 15TH JUNE 2015

BRIGID CROWLEY

DEIRDRE BOYLE

> Head of The Department of Creative Media, Information Technology and Computing

> Co-ordinators, Master of Arts in Creative Media programme

On behalf of the Department, I would like to welcome you to Aspect 2015 - an exhibition of work by MA in Creative Media students. The department of CMITC is dedicated to encouraging and promoting the development of creative media communicators, content-makers and story-tellers.

The year-long Master of Arts in Creative Media programme supports the practice of making media artefacts - alongside like-minded practitioners - within a supportive and critical studio environment. Designed to facilitate a broad range of media contexts, including film-making, broadcasting, design, music, performance, visual arts, literature and interactive media, the MA is supported by academics and media practitioners from these areas. The programme is delivered over two days a week, and consists of both taught modules and selfdirected studio practice.

Congratulations to all of you on reaching this stage in your studies.

I would like to wish you all the best with your future endeavours.

In particular I would like to thank all of the staff for their support of Aspect 2015.

and

LISA M c ELLIGOTT

This programme has qualified for Springboard funding for 2015/16.

For more information visit http://macreativemediatralee. org/ or http://www.ittralee.ie/ or contact Lisa McElligott (lisa.mcelligott@staff.ittralee)

Applicants interested in applying for an INC sponsorship, or in supporting a student, should contact: MARY LUCEY

The innovative INC Scholarship Scheme was launched in May 2014: and involves an industry, or organisation, providing the financial support to cover a large proportion of the cost of undertaking the MA in Creative Media. In return, the selected student works on a designated industry project, appropriate to their skills and interests. This allows the student to create both independent work in the studio, and an industry project, thereby strengthening both their portfolio and commercial experience.

Interviews for Scholarships will be held in June/July 2015.

> INC Sponsorship Coordinator at Mary.Lucey@staff.ittralee.ie, 066 7191863 or 087 9338941

Echosounder scans the underlying depths of the turbulent waters we find ourselves in today. Drawing lessons from the echoes of the past and anchoring us, whilst looking to the possibilities of the future, opening transformative doors and pathways to navigating what’s next.

Through a series of dialogues and soundscapes, the work paints a multifaceted picture of place, identity and people’s resilience in the context of challenging times. The focus of this work’s social lens is to make people’s voices audible; to encourage reflection, conversation and learning around the signposts and insights they reveal about people’s sense of place.

These conversations reveal a spirit of resillience through the transformative power of narrative – home, community, landscape, the names of places and faces, and the place of the mind and memory.

The work will be made audible for exhibition through intimate spatial settings and can also be accessed via the project web portal www.echosounder.net

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Echosounder EUGENE BOYLE > eugenejboyle@gmail.com MA Creative Media

Solstice Film & Animation is a learning experience, comprising informative and instructional tutorials in the creative media of filmmaking and stop-motion animation.

It features a range of essential technical and production skills for effective narrative creation. The tutorials aim to encourage experiential learning and facilitate the generation and composition of digital storytelling in creative and imaginative ways. The material is designed for primary schools, but can be effectively adapted for use at secondary school level. It is structured for delivery in both a conventional classroom and in an online learning environment.

The associated project research will focus on wider practical application of these storytelling skills and the potential for enhanced learning in other areas. It will explore the relevance and appropriateness of these skills in the learning environment and in the broader subject curriculum.

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Solstice Film & Animation ALAN CANTWELL > solsticemediaproductions@gmail.com MA Creative Media

“When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair.

The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.” (Sol LeWitt) “We [science-fiction writers] are sort of charlatans: we come up with a few ideas and we make a living out of that.” (William Gibson) Using cyberpunk as a conceptual starting point, Cyborgification applies algorithmic and generative computer processes to the creation of both sound and images. Realised as a series of prints and accompanying sound for stereo speakers, the work employs a rigidly minimalistic approach to explore cyberpunk ideas of: computer automation; meeting of high and low cultures; tension between physicality and virtuality.

In addition to being exhibited as a physical installation, the work is also being concurrently released as a downloadable ZIP file available at www.cyborgification.info

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Cyborgification LAURENCE COUNIHAN > laurencecounihan@gmail.com MA Creative Media

The research area I have chosen to concentrate on during the M.A in Creative Media is dreams. Is there in fact an association between dreams and creativity?

The reason why it has been chosen is that I have always been captivated by dreams and the part they played in the history of ancient civilisations: from their influence in ancient Egypt taken as being direct messages from the Gods, and now in modern times with their portrayal in today’s media, particularly cinema.

This initial exploration identified a hundred and one questions that needed to be answered in order to arrive at an interesting research topic within dreams.

I began my journey to dreamland with the following questions etched on my brain: ‘Have you ever wondered what dreams are?

Why do we dream?’

The installation piece is built around my original concept: that dreams can aid creativity, whether it is creating fantastic works of art, new inventions or creative everyday problem-solving techniques.

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Manifest EDEL LANE > edellane@hotmail.com MA Creative Media

The title of my exhibit for this show is Fragmentation.

The work is inspired by Postmodern architecture, particularly that of a Deconstructivist style, with an emphasis on highlighting the unusual shapes and forms of that architecture. The sculptural installation shows the playfulness that this type of architecture can express, made up of many distorted geometric forms.

It is a work made up of ‘bits and pieces’, a trait often associated with Deconstructivism. The projected imagery onto the work represents a type of geometric street art, showing a playful relationship between street art and architecture: how they both can often be perceived in a ‘fragmented’ manner within society and yet, at the same time, can evoke a positive response from an audience.

It is an interactive piece whereby the audience experiences something fun and playful and interacts with the piece, the space and forms.

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Fragmentation REBECCA LYONS > rebeccababington@hotmail.com MA Creative Media

In Celtic myths and folklore, animals were held in extremely high esteem. They were believed to have close associations with the supernatural world, possessing the ability to communicate freely with gods and humans.

Throughout Celtic folklore, animals are depicted with magical, often transformative powers. Certain Celtic deities were believed to possess the ability to appear in either human or animal form.

As a part time student, halfway through this Masters programme, the work is a representation of ongoing work. It reflects a combination of media techniques, including live action filming, model making and stop motion animation. Over the course of the following year, my intention is to continue developing these skills, and to further explore representations of animals in folklore. This may include the appearance of animals in the folklore of other cultures as well as the representation of other animals within the Celtic tradition.

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Animals in Folklore MARIA ELIZABETH MCCARTHY > maria.elizabeth.mccarthy@gmail.com MA Creative Media

Digitisation, while heralding the democratisation of information, affects our interaction with text and the way we generate meaning from it. But there is a cultural danger in having an ‘either/or’ debate when discussing print and screen-based media, one that is encapsulated in Harold Innis’ communication theories.

Innis, a historical economist, traced the rise and fall of civilisations through their commerce and communications, and was the first to apply the dimensions of time and space to categorising communication technologies.

Time-binding media facilitate the endurance of messages across time.

Space-binding media facilitate the expansion of messages across space.

In recalibrating Innis’ theories for a contemporary context, print could be described as a time-binding medium favouring fixity and legacy, while screen-based media give rise to dematerialised, fluid artefacts that facilitate space-binding.

As the needle-workers of these time and space bindings, we must consider legacy in all its connotations – as the bequest of societies’ stories, information and data, and ‘legacy’ as it refers to obsolete devices and file formats.

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Bindings SIOBHĂ N MURPHY > vaunnie@gmail.com MA Creative Media

“As I Was Saying” is a film project which explores how people self-edit their memories to show themselves in the best possible light. Using both film editing techniques as well as recreations, “As I Was Saying” takes the self-editing process away from Senior, as he tells his story of a day he would like to re-live.

In what I consider to be a unique and different approach to narrative, I use three screens to visually display how Senior’s story changes through the process of editing, showing both his original version and an edited version simultaneously.

Through these processes the viewer can see how his story of being stranded, when out on a boat in south Kerry, unfolds and develops, as well as how one simple summer’s day will forever be in his memory in one form or another.

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As I Was Saying BRIAN FINBAR O’CONNOR > Brian.finbar.oconnor@gmail.com MA Creative Media

The #MakeSomeNoise campaign endeavours to raise awareness of mental health in Ireland. The project is a non-scripted, actuality campaign documentary that creatively adds to the mental health discussion in Ireland, rather than completely transforming it and creating something new.

The overall aim of the campaign is to achieve a greater level of awareness of mental illness in Irish society, as well as cultivating a positive and motivating discussion surrounding the topic. A unique element of the documentary involves a single vlogger, filming their daily life over a short period of time. The film depicts the after thoughts, feelings and emotions of personally overcoming, or knowing somebody who has been affected by, mental health issues. The vlogging aspect endeavours to allow people form a unique and constructive connection, and relate to the issue on a personal level. #MakeSomeNoise is about getting our voices heard and creating a strong message that it’s okay not to be okay – and it’s absolutely okay to ask for help.

An important factor was ascertaining the emotional effects of a mental illness, and to creatively, and compassionately, illustrate the emotional journey of their lives.

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#MakeSomeNoise ZARA O’DOWD > zaraodowd@gmail.com MA Creative Media

Him & I is a short film that plays with the idea of a widower’s unconscious taking physical form and observing him through his life following the tragic loss of his wife. This film focuses on the character of his unconscious as he tries to understand what it is the widower is going through, now that his wife has passed, and how he can settle back into the real world.

This film is unique in the way of presentation towards the audience. The lead protagonist (the widower’s physical unconscious) interacts directly with the spectator, acting as a medium between the widower’s thoughts and the audience.

Using a lighthearted tone, his unconscious guides the film’s viewers through the widower’s journey following the death of his wife.

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Him & I JAMIE RE > jamiere92@yahoo.co.uk MA Creative Media

My project is called The Fairy Tale Rules. I am combing my traditional oil painting knowledge with the digital media technology of Photoshop, with a Wacom drawing tablet. My project is about social issues that surround young girls, with their youth, sexuality and fertility all seen as a commodities.

The reason for the name The Fairy Tale Rules is that it crosses a divide both culturally and socially. It is also ageless, bringing to mind the use of fantasy we still use to warn our children about modern life: From Chinese foot-binding, to the underage Britney Spears photographed in her bedroom by Playboy, to the three Traveller girls who turned their sense of commodity on its head and dressed to pleased themselves under their own rules.

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The Fairy Tale Rules MARY SHEEHAN > mary.sheehan@research.ittralee.ie MA Creative Media

Viaticum is the title of a short graphic novel that is the culmination of this creative Dear Next of Kin is a multimedia project aimed media course. Viaticum’s narrative addresses a theme that connects with at informing and educating the public about mankind’s deepest concern: the fear of dying and the meaning of life in view organ donation. of our inescapable mortality. Many religious constructs have been proposed in attempts to provide solutions forlegislation our hesitation in accepting death as an empirical The change in organ donation means occurrence in the natural order.

Simultaneously, religion has motivated mankind all potential donors will be dependent on the to develop at a of profound artistic level throughout the history of our species. consent of ideas their next kin before donation Viaticum operates within this tradition. takes place. The aim of this project is to create an online resource in an effort to answer any The graphic novel as a medium was a well motivated choice for the subject of a questions a person may have. master level study. The genre’s literary potential appears to have evolved into maturity.

As films, such, each progressive intellectual and experimental We created four short approaching development of this medium seems to be justified as an aspect of the topic from a different viewpoint. The goal the face ofprofessional these storiesartistic is thatpractice they areinshared onof the ever growing extrovert hyper-media.

FaceBook and Twitter, resulting in viewers visiting our website for more information. The stories, between two and five minutes in length, are titled In My Lifetime, The Waiting Game, Disobeying Wishes and How Are You? The aim of each story is to prompt the viewer to consider organ donation from a new perspective.

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Viaticum RON VAN DER NOLL > ronvandernoll@yahoo.ie MA Creative Media

THANK YOU We would like to acknowledge the following for their support and involvement in Aspect 2015: Kerry County Museum staff for their continued support and generosity; Liam McCarthy and Jim Quinn from the Department of Creative Media at ITT for their technical support; Andrew Quirke and Neil McKay ITT Computer Services; John Daly and Donal Hunt, maintenance staff and security staff at ITT; Jim Twomey of The National Digital Skills Training Centre, KETB; Students, Staff and Mentors of the Creative Media Programmes at ITT.

macreativemediatralee.org