News
Wednesday 24th, April, 2013
Vestige exhibition opens to celebrate Creative Campus 2013!
Throughout their three month artistic residency NCAD students have been addressing the themes of ‘materiality’ and ‘obsolescence’ in relation to South Dublin County’s industrial past. In response to the theme of ‘obsolescence’ the students have been considering the closures of the paper making mills that were once located along the rivers Dodder and Camac. As a result of technological modernisation these industries have become outdated, no longer viable and therefore obsolete.
Not only does this modernisation threaten the continued relevance of the industry, but it also calls into question the role of the associated material. It is here that the theme of ‘materiality’ is being addressed, in that these closures can be seen as indicative of the diminishing role of the material paper in an increasingly digital age. Nowadays we are more likely to send digital text messages and emails as opposed to the letters and telegrams of bygone generations. These modes of communication can thus be seen as outdated and obsolete.
On a more recent and national level, the Saor View switch from analogue to digital can be representative of the ‘analogue’ becoming ‘obsolete’ in the face of the digital and no longer necessary. In line with this, the role of analogue photography and darkroom development procedures has also been investigated in relation to the proliferation of digital photography and image making. In contemporary life, photographs tend to be physically printed less and less, instead existing virtually on the internet and social networking sites.
The students have also been questioning what becomes of the skill set involved in the production of a material once it becomes obsolete. Does this skill set, like the material, become obsolete also? Or can this skill set be relocated into a new context and invested with a new meaning beyond its original function? In this exhibition the utility of these materials and skill sets is being reconsidered in an artistic context.