The Jackie Clarke Collection | Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10am - 5pm | Free Admission

Events

Events at the Clarke Collection

Assembly

shane finan at the jackie clarke collection

Interactive mixed media art installation: Video, print, text, animation, interactive media, Arduino, sensors, Raspberry Pi 2022

supported by mayo arts office and decade of centenaries 2022

 

 

Artist Shane Finan responds to the Jackie Clarke Collection

From May to November 2022, Shane Finan worked with the Jackie Clarke Collection as artist-in-residence. He studied the archive, the museum and the collection to understand why Jackie Clarke chose the objects he chose. Drawing from printed materials (newspapers, leaflets, autograph books) and the idea of technology as a device for how stories are spread, he has created a new art installation that takes over the Memory Room in the collection museum in late 2022.

Shane spent time meeting people in Ballina and the surrounding areas and creating his own collection of stories from the people that he met. The artwork, Assembly1, is a blended 'future museum' of north Co. Mayo.

Assembly is a large mixed media artwork that uses printed material, video screens, projection, animation and sensor technologies. The printed words2 from newspapers 100 years old, and from today's equivalents, are obscured and barely legible. In the spaces between these confused stories, dreamlike films and printed photographs tell snippets of other stories. Autograph books, influenced by those in the museum collection, contain a trace of the people who have told their stories to Shane, and they will be on site and can be added to by visitors. Technology is an important part of the message: Screens replace paper and printing press, and sensor-activated panels are activated by handwritten books. Throughout the space, animals and birds take part in telling the complex stories, reminding us that they are part of the narrative and also have homes which they build, maintain and return to. Each of these elements makes up part of a strange collection of objects and ideas that 'intra-active' and strung together as seemingly disparate parts that make up a world in the memory room.

In essence, the artwork is simply a reminder that no story is ever just black and white.

The artwork launched on November 19th 2022. 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 (Jackie Clarke Collection), chaired by Ann Marie McGing (Arts Officer, Mayo County Council).

1The title of the work is an homage to Kathleen Booth, the computer scientist and mathematician who died aged 100 in October 2022, and who was one of the main people responsible for creating the 'Assembly' computer programming language. This language is a crucial component in all contemporary computers, used to allow devices to communicate with one another.
2The typeface and fonts used throughout are by Fonderiz: https://fonderiz.fr/ (Justine Gagnaire, Marie Deloffre and Cédric Rossignol-Brunet) 

Watch as 2022 Decade of Centenaries Artist in Residence Shane Finan discusses his work with the Jackie Clarke Collection. Shane was artist in residence from May to November 2022. Over the six months, he used the collection to develop a new art installation, Assembly.

Drawing from printed materials (newspapers, leaflets, autograph books) and the idea of technology as a device for how stories are spread, he has created a new art installation that has taken over the Memory Room in the collection museum in late 2022 until the end of 2023. In this interview, commissioned by the Jackie Clarke Collection to celebrate their 10-year anniversary, Shane describes the creative process and his engagement with the collection and the people of Ballina to create his own story.

The residency was supported by Mayo Arts Office and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries Programme. The video was created by Anula Productions.

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Tours

Specialist tours can be booked in advance by emailing clarkecollection@mayococo.ie or by phoning (096) 73508.

Contact

The Jackie Clarke Collection
Pearse Street, Ballina, Co. Mayo, Ireland

T: + 353 (0)96 73508
W: www.clarkecollection.ie
E: clarkecollection@mayococo.ie

Opening Times

Tuesday to Saturday: 10am to 5pm
Entrance is located at the side of the building on Walsh Street.

 

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Did you know that amongst Jackie Clarke’s collection is the rare and evocative Tintown Autograph Book which contains signatur...
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Did you know that amongst Jackie Clarke’s collection is the rare and evocative Tintown Autograph Book which contains signatures, drawings, slogans etc. of Republican Prisoners interned during the Civil War. This book was expertly researched by one of the Jackie Clarke Collections amazing volunteers Niamh O'Sullivan, here Niamh shares her great insight into the thoughts and words contained within this incredible piece of history. “Leafing through the wonderfully informative Tintown civil war autograph book throws up several items of interest. Perhaps the first being the likely presence of Ernie O’Malley’s brother Cecil Patrick. Ernie rightly receives much attention for his part in our centenary history. Cecil would not be quite as well-known as his renowned older brother, yet he has secured a further place in Irish history by autographing this little book. Cecil had also been held in Kilmainham Prison – a fact he proved personally, yet again, by writing his name on a cell wall in the old West Wing. That inscription by the late 20th century was faded, but legible. The prisoners themselves left us undeniable clues as to their whereabouts when frequently imperfect prison-lists failed them. IL Conte (Count) Seoirse (George) Noble Plunkett TD’s autograph invites much reflection. The father of Joseph Plunkett (one of the 1916 executed Leaders) now himself imprisoned. By fellow Irishmen. His very name in this precious book becomes a moving and visible reminder of the suffering our country endured in those days. Another TD, the poet and writer Brian Ó hUiginn, signs the book twice. We then find a fellow prisoner dedicating an entire page of the little book with reference to a popular song written by Brian himself; The Soldiers of Cumann na mBan. This is an excellent example of the esteem and loyalty shared amongst themselves by these political prisoners. To view the book for yourself, copy the link below into your browser. https://www.clarkecollection.ie/historical-autograph-collections/item/346-tintown-autograph-collection
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