Transcending Time by artist Aoife Dunne: A new immersive mobile digital installation for the Fingal community

This insightful new commission by Fingal artist Aoife Dunne is presented under Fingal’s County Council’s Arts Office’s Public Art Programme and forms part of our ‘Let’s Stay Together’ initiative.

Starting from the 27th of May 2020 Fingal residents will have the opportunity to request the mobile digital artwork to exhibit outside their houses/area, by visiting a dedicated website  www.transcendingtime.ie. 

The Mayor of Fingal, Cllr. Eoghan O'Brien, said: "Fingal Arts Office is committed to the local and national “In this Together” campaign where Departments across Fingal County Council are delivering a range of programmes and initiatives to support people’s physical and emotional wellbeing during Covid 19, while they continue to work on the objectives as set out in their recently published Arts Strategy 2019 – 2025: Connecting People and Ideas and Bringing Fingal to Life Through the Arts."

Transcending Time has been created specifically for the current times we are living in, where everyone is house-bound and feeling incredibly anxious and lacking inspiration. Artist Aoife Dunne thought it would be worth creating something to uplift the whole community.

 “I am incredibly excited to create this work for my community, when art is needed now more than ever. As artists globally are turning to digital platforms to create new work and connect with their audience, I wanted to do something a little different and bring art to you. This work 'Transcending Time' speaks to perception, escapism and fantasy - a theatrical exploration of the borderline between reality and utopia. I am extremely grateful to Fingal County Council for supporting my practice and helping me to create a truly unique, modern and original experience.”

Margaret Geraghty, Director of Community and Housing in Fingal County Council said: “As we continue through the Government roadmap to reopen society and business it is important that we can support activities that help people maintain good physical and mental wellbeing. The Wellbeing programme is the second phase of the overall Community Call programme.”

“Fingal Arts Office is committed to delivering wellbeing initiatives to the people of Fingal and this public art initiative is a great example of bringing art to those who may not normally have the opportunity to see it.  This is a very exciting initiative that the Council is happy to support.”

Artists globally seem to be turning to digital platforms to create new work and connect with their audiences, but Aoife wanted to do something a little different  bringing  art to the people while considering the current  social distancing restrictions and deliver a work that offers the elements of  a live experience.

Caroline Cowley, Public Art Co-ordinator for Fingal County Council, said: “Public Art is always created in and of its time with the ability to reflect on what the public are currently experiencing and feeling especially when some of the everyday freedoms are restricted and life as we know has changed. As part of our recently launched Fingal Arts Strategy 2019 – 2025 we remain true our key objectives by enabling excellence while connecting people and ideas, we continue to do this in whatever way we can.”

Fingal residents can request a visit from the installation which will go live on the 8th – 10th of June from www.transcendingtime.ie the project has carefully considered all current restrictions and will plan an appropriate route based on the location requests.

www.transcendingtime.ie/ www.aoifedunne.com/www.fingalarts.ie

For Further information contact

Caroline Cowley, Public Art Co-ordinator, [email protected]

For Press related queries Please contact [email protected]

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About the Artist:

Multidisciplinary Artist and Art Director, Aoife Dunne creates immersive, multihued, dreamlike, vivid playgrounds that conflate the two-dimensional moving image with the three dimensional arrangement of objects in a space. Inspired by everyday material culture, she curates found objects and patterns, making the familiar strange through hyperboles of form and colour. A fearless purveyor of fusing all manner of creative mediums (sculpture, technology, sound, performance and costume) with language that is rooted in post-pop and post-internet, her continent-crossing works submerge audiences into phantasmagorical, detail-driven virtual and physical worlds. At once dazzling and ominous, her surreal amalgams chart the psychological complexities, desires, and illusions that haunt late-capitalist culture, providing a critical take on contemporary realities, yet also exuberant and absurd. This designer of experiences is best known for her inimitable aesthetic and provoking work that endlessly pushes the boundaries between reality and utopia.

ABOUT FINGAL COUNTY COUNCIL ARTS OFFICE / ‘Lets Stay Together’ Campaign:

Fingal County Council have formally adopted an Arts Plan that seeks to enable all in Fingal to access a wide range of arts and cultural experiences, to foster diversity of arts practice and to support artists of many different backgrounds. This April the council launched their new ‘Let’s Stay Together’ campaign where Fingal Arts Office aims to connect people and ideas during Covid-19. Over the coming weeks as part of this campaign they will present several projects, including Aoife Dunne’s TRANSCENDING TIME project, through its digital media platforms including ongoing clinics with Artists and Communities, alongside a schedule of live and recorded elements announced weekly.