'When I Leave These Landings (2004 - 2009)'

This body of work consists of five films (artefacts): Film E2-1A, DV, stereo-sound, 36' 09"; Film E2-1B, DV, stereo-sound, 5' 08"; Film E2-2, DV, stereo-sound, 31' 08"; Film E2-3, DV, stereo-sound, 15' 53"; and Film E2-4, DV, stereo-sound, 23' 08". The work formed a five-film installation, which was exhibited at Le Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris, 18th June - 12th July, 2009. The exhibition was opened by Declan McGonagle, Director of the National College of Art and Design Ireland (NCAD) and author/filmmaker, Philippe Claudel. The exhibition opening was followed by a colloquium on June 18th planned in conjunction with the exhibition. The symposium considered the exhibition 'When I Leave These Landings’ in the context of contemporary art practice, politics and ethics in relation to society and imprisonment. Colloquium participants included artists, academics and filmmakers: Caroline Caccavale, producer and director with Lieux Fictifs, Marseilles; Joe Comerford, filmmaker; Jonathan Cummins, filmmaker and lecturer with University of Ulster and NCAD Prison Art Programme; Teresa Degenhardt, critical criminologist, Queens University, Belfast, Northern Ireland; Dr Siun Hanrahan, artist, writer, Head of Research NCAD; Colm Laighneach, ex-political prisoner and student on NCAD Prison Art Programme; Prof Brian Maguire, Head of Faculty of Fine Art, NCAD; Prof Declan McGonagle, Director NCAD; John Mulloy, artist and lecturer, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology; Aislinn O'Donnell, philosopher and researcher; Catherine Rechard, photographer and filmmaker; and Jean-Francois Rettig, curator and director, Rencontres Internationales. Film E2-1B was exhibited at Rencontres Internationales Paris, Nov, 2009; and Rencontres Internationales Madrid, April, 2009. A draft version of Film E2-4 formed part of the Rencontres Internationales library in Paris 2007; Rencontres Internationale Madrid, 2008; and Rencontres Internationales Berlin, 2008.The practice underlying this body of work was discussed and elements of the work in development were screened at the following events:'Through a Lens Darkly', Interface Public Seminar SeriesInterface: Art, Technology, Design. School of Art and Design, University of Ulster, 2007. Panel discussion and screenings with panelists Cahal McLaughlin (filmmaker, academic and writer) and Siun Hanrahan (artist and writer). The seminar explored lens-based practice and the representation of conflict. 'Filmmaking in Contested Spaces': ISEA 2009: Pre-Symposium EventBlackbox, Belfast, 2008. Panel discussion and screenings with filmmakers Cahal McLaughlin, Jean Chamoun, Simon Bitton, Anne Crilly and Terry Loane. 'Practice-Based Teaching and Research Methods Using Film and Media: Portlaoise Prison, Ireland'European Prison Education Association Annual (EPEA) Conference, 2007, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland. Paper and presentation outlining the methodology, developed through my research in prison, for informed-consent and ethical procedures for practice-based lens research within institutional settings. A distilled version of this paper and practice was provided to the Irish Prison Education Association Conference (IPEA) 2008.