the emptiness of always being reachable
As 2024 draws to a close, we are delighted to present new works from our recent Home Residents – Aiden Brady, Karen Daye-Hutchinson, Martin Della Vecchia and Thomas McConville.
Opening Night: 5th December ‘24, 6 - 9pm.
Exhibition Continues: Tues – Thurs, 10th - 19th December ’24, 12 – 4pm.
Bad Picture by Aiden Brady
This audiovisual artwork uses images and audio to engage with water and air quality data from Northern Ireland. Its title refers to the problematic way that environmental data is made public (or not) in Northern Ireland. The audio material is directly connected to live and public air quality data. By contrast, the work's visual element engages with the lack of ongoing, and accessible water quality data provided by the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs. The work hopes to capture how the environmental views of Northern Ireland are not entirely obscured but are hazy and, indeed, have a bad resolution.
Things Are Different Now by Karen Daye-Hutchinson
This trio of moving image works examines the complexities of growing up amidst the violence in Northern Ireland, as seen through the eyes of a young girl. The narrative reveals how political and societal turbulence permeates everyday life,
shaping identity and perception. By situating the viewer in the intimate, subjective experience of a child, the works explore themes of innocence, fear, and resilience, emphasising how a fractured society affects individual psyche.
A recurring motif is the paper bag, an artifact evolved from experiments in printmaking and performance. It symbolises vulnerability, concealment, and the weight of silent survival. The bag’s layers echo the multifaceted trauma of growing up in conflict—a metaphor for both shielding oneself from external chaos and the internal complexities of processing it. Its material fragility contrasts the endurance required in such an environment, creating a compelling argument.
Through moving imagery, the trio integrates personal memory with broader cultural trauma, interweaving nostalgia and unease. By placing a young girl at the centre, the works challenge conventional narratives of conflict, offering a poignant perspective on how violence shapes childhood. Ultimately, Things Are Different Now is a meditation on identity, memory, and the enduring imprint of societal strife.
Dromore 3am by Martin Della Vecchia
This piece is a contemplation of the town where martin lives - Dromore in Co. Down; a small, conservative town where late evenings mark a shift into profound stillness. The video, which looks like a series of still images, paired with a music track he composed, aims to capture the nostalgic air mingled with emptiness and silence as the last traces of life—such as lingering smells and faint noises—fade into the night.
Martin filmed between midnight and 3 a.m. The experience evoked a sense of longing and freedom. Alone in the deserted streets, he felt the weight of the town’s history and the beauty of its quiet solitude.
Store by Thomas McConville
This installation looks at effects of consumerism, technology, and the internet on contemporary culture/art. Fragmented visuals and distorted ads loop and degrade with each repetition as pop up messages remain visible, focusing on themes of digital immortality, where online messages/communication can outlive its creator. After each decay, the loop gradually regenerates.
As time passes, AI-generated influences merge with the content, showing an imagined time where advertising and art are the same thing. Intermittent pop-up notifications highlight the emptiness of always being reachable. The abstracted pop and dance music soundtrack evolves throughout, sort of reflecting the visuals abstracted view of pop culture.
