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First-person open-world game installation
HD video projection: 8k laser projector
Stereo spatialised sound
Razor blade laptop running Unreal Engine 4
Games controller
Bus shelter: Reclaimed PVC, timber, steel; perspex, vinyl print, graffiti, poster
Bus stop sign: steel, aluminium
Bench: iron, resin
CCTV camera & CCTV monitor
An immersive virtual game experience that draws on elements of visual installation, theatre, social media, pop culture, music and dance in exploring the ideas and values surrounding young working-class men in Belfast, specifically notions of masculinity, body image, emotional relationships, and attitudes to sexuality and gender.
The work was created in Unreal Engine with the aim of engaging a young male working class audience – an often overlooked demographic in the arts. The focus of the project sought to give voice to their concerns and experiences and is presented in colloquial language native to them, i.e. a video game installation – think Grand Theft Auto meets Oona Doherty’s Hard to be Soft.
A film version was screened as part of IRISH FOCUS at Dancer from the Dance Festival 2022, IFI Dublin
The Estate
Pallas Projects / Studios Dublin
Artist-Initiated Projects in collaboration with BETA Festival
30 October – 16 November 2024
Photography by Louis Haugh
Video by Serhii Shapoval
Vault Artist Studios Belfast
NI Science Festival
15 - 23 February 2025
RTE lyric fm The Culture File Debate x Beta Festival
00:00 / 29:13
Irish Focus: Irish Film Institute & Irish Modern Dance Theatre
Film Screening & Post-Show Panel
Dancer From The Dance Festival, 11 July 2022
Curated by John Scott
Credits
Claire Hall – Producer
John McIlduff – Executive Producer
John D’Arcy – Creative Technologist
Leonid Kuzmenko – Game Developer
Mahon McCann – Writer
Emily DeDakis – Dramaturg
Jamie Thompson – Composer
Cillian Lenaghan – Actor
Barry Simpson – Actor
Ryan O’Neill – Contemporary dancer
Ruaidhri Maguire – Ballet dancer
Stevie Lennox - Sound Recordist
Daniel Ritchie – Production Assistant
Chris Campbell-Palmer – Resin Fabricator
Hugh Graham & Michael McIvor – Steel Fabricator
For Pallas Projects/Studios:
Mark Cullen - Joint-artistic director
Gavin Murphy - Joint-artistic director
Eve Woods - Curator/Programme Producer
Lana May Fleming - Assistant Curator
Diarmaid Flynn - Gallery & Outreach Assistant
Commissioned by Future Screens NI/Lyric Theatre Live-to-digital (formerly "#NoHomo")
Supported by Arts Council of Northern Ireland/National Lottery Digital Evolution Award, Esmé Mitchell Trust, Belfast City Council Small Grants, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Reconciliation Fund Grant Scheme
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