Treading the boards, always looking for his father in the dust is the second solo exhibition from Séamus McCormack. In this exhibition of lens-based works, the artist utilises the malleable qualities of fiction, citing classic works but aiming to go beyond the narratives, exploring hidden histories, contexts, and personal engagements with the texts. The works play in the space between documentation and the iconic quality of a staged composition.
He explains: “I try and avoid creating strictly agenda-driven or didactic documentaries, but instead develop personal scenarios in which individual voices resonate from the texts I cite.” Born in Mullingar, Seamus was educated at the Dublin Institute of Technology and the Limerick School of Art and Design. He graduated in 2006 with a first class honours degree in fine art receiving the Best Fine Art Student Award, and in addition was awarded the Gold Medal for Academic Excellence from the Faculty of Applied Arts, DIT. All are welcome to attend, the exhibition runs until November 27.
The White Ribbon is next up for Ballina film club
The White Ribbon is a 2009 drama filmed in black and white, written and directed by Michael Haneke and will be shown as part of the Ballina Film Club on November 2 at 8pm. The story darkly depicts society and family in a northern German village just before World War I. According to Haneke, the film is about “the origin of every type of terrorism, be it of political or religious nature”.
Both provocative and elegantly executed, this is essential viewing – an examination of perhaps how violence can unwittingly take root in a society that ostensibly believes in other values. This is a multi award winning movie, having won the Palme Do’r at Cannes in 2009, a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 2010, and was recently named Best Movie at the BBC Four World Cinema Award. Admission to all Ballina Film Club presentations is €7 (Seasonal membership rates are available ).
