Immersive art exhibition DÉAD* celebrates the cultural legacy of "Dracula" and "Nosferatu"
This interdisciplinary art exhibition draws on immersive technologies to celebrate the legacy of Bram Stoker’s novel
Dracula and Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau’s classic silent film
Nosferatu.
Through virtual reality (VR) installations, 3D animations, video projections, sculptures and more, the exhibition brings vampires, monsters and the undead to life and invites visitors to Merrion Square to explore topics including life cycles, (im)mortality, and transience.
Created by students and recent graduates from six notable arts colleges in Ireland and Germany, the exhibition has emerged from the
Creative Pathways programme, an initiative established by the Irish Embassy in Berlin to bring together students and lecturers based in both countries to develop collaborative and interdisciplinary artworks.
At the start of the programme, artists based in Ireland were paired with artists based in Germany. Artists with complimentary skillsets and practices were matched and their collaboration was guided by lecturers from participating colleges.
The current edition of
Creative Pathways is run in partnership with the Goethe-Institut in Ireland. The students and graduates come from a wide range of artistic disciplines, including fine art, drama and theatre, film, and sound art. Through their interdisciplinary work, they explore the joint German-Irish heritage of
Dracula and
Nosferatu, and raise intriguing questions about life, death and the complexity of the human condition.
DÉAD will open at the Goethe-Institut Irland on Friday, 22 September (Culture Night) and run until Friday, 27 October 2023.
*'Déad' is the Irish word for ‘set of teeth’.
Gallery Opening Hours
Monday - Thursday 10:00am – 9:00pm
Friday 10:00am – 5.00pm
Saturday 10:00am – 3:00pm
Closed on Saturdays of Bank Holidays
Please note that due to the protected structure of the Georgian building the exhibition is only partially wheelchair accessible.
More about the exhibition pieces
EVERGREEN
Sona Smedkova
In their mixed media installation piece,
Sona Smedkova (ATU Galway) and
Veronika Pfaffinger (HfBK Dresden) explore the theme of immortality through physical and digital landscape. This piece extends beyond the walls of the institute. Take a walk through Merrion Square to find out more.
Kindly supported by Dublin City Council.
SUSURRATION
Stefany Smolkina/Dunk Murphy
The single-channel video piece by
Stefania Smolkina (HBG Leipzig) and Dunk Murphy (UL) intertwines cinematic depictions of Dracula with the rendering of contextual aspects captured in Wismar in northern Germany, where
Nosferatu was filmed. In the video, a journey through physical spaces meets the borderline between trance, sleep and memories.
ASHES TO DUST / LAment of Light
© Patryk Kujawa
Patryk Kujawa’s (HfBK Dresden) and Adrian McCarthy’s (UCC) video installation is the first chapter of a two-part project. The piece has been adapted for the show at the Goethe-Institut Irland in collaboration with German artist Luis Kürschner, where the second chapter
Lament of Light responds to the light-filled architecture of the institute’s Georgian building in Dublin.
Ana / Pack of Cigarettes
© Maximiliano Sinani / Melissa Morrigan
Maximiliano Sinani (Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main) and Melissa Morrigan (UCC) present two art works: a video piece that interrogates how fiction leaves its traces in the real world, and a sculpture of a modified pack of cigarettes that casts the shadow of a coffin.
Deathlocked Phoenix
Adrian Q. Vardi / Manuel McCarthy
This piece consists of an animated short film by Adrian Q. Vardi (HGB Leipzig) and a projection of a generative algorithm that reacts to the film, created by Manuel McCarthy (UL). The film is presented as a video loop that depicts the futile efforts of a virtual vampire to escape immortality and embrace death.
Last Body, Last Territory
© Rocío Romero Grau / John Flindt
Rocío Romero Grau’s (ATU Galway) and John Flindt’s (Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main) VR-installation explores the potentially devastating impact of mutations, infections, and ungovernable organisms on our lives. Body and mind, our last territory, are the first to be attacked.
The following arts colleges and lecturers are participating in the Creative Pathways programme:
ATU –
Atlantic Technological University Galway (Ben Geoghegan)
UCC –
University College Cork (Bernadette Cronin)
UL –
University of Limerick (Jürgen Simpson)
HGB –
Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst / Akademie der Bildenden Künste Leipzig (Clemens von Wedemeyer / Dieter Daniels)
Städelschule –
Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Frankfurt am Main (Gerard Byrne)
HfBK -
Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden (Susan Philipsz)
Presented by the Goethe-Institut Irland in cooperation with the Embassy of Ireland in Berlin.
Kindly supported by Dublin City Council.
Press Coverage
Irish Tech News - 9 September 2023
Dublin.ie
Books Ireland
The Irish Times Book Club Newsletter
The Irish Times - Culture Night
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