THE CREATIVE lives of teenagers in hospital, will be revealed in Cloudlands, a new exhibition which opens at the Galway Arts Centre, tomorrow at 6pm, along with a new project from The Red Bird Youth Collective.
Cloudlands, by Helium Arts, the children’s arts and health organisation, features two distinct pieces of work, which explores themes of alternate realities, escape, and hidden stories. The Titans, an installation by Rachel Tynan and teenagers in Temple Street Children’s University Hospital, features a family of wooden figure which can be moved into different combinations to reveal sound recordings of the teenagers' stories.
Radio/Silence is an interactive radio game which alters the hospital environment for the listener. Using his/her own mobile phone, listeners can help the characters save the world from an evil doctor intent on spreading silence. It was developed by artist Eszter Némethi and teenagers in Cork University Hospital.
The other exhibition which opens at the GAC is Agitating Space, a collaboration by Red Bird Youth Collective, artists Ruby Wallis and Roisín Coyle, and computer programmer Gerald Glynn. They have worked in partnership with artists from Centro Cultural Vila Prudente, an art school located in the Vila Prudente favela in São Paulo, Brazil.
The group began by creating colour overlays to black and white cityscapes of both Galway and São Paulo. This work was then fed into Photosynth to create moving images of the reworked city landscapes, exploring the intricacies of what makes a building and what makes a space. This methodology was echoed by the artists in Brazil, allowing both groups to compare and contrast their city living experiences.
For more information see www.helium.ie and www.theredbirdcollective.com
