Social Pics: Preview Of NCAD’s 2017 Showcase

The National College of Art and Design (NCAD) annual show is always a highlight on the creative calendar and this year’s showcase focuses heavily on social and political issues, with students applying innovative creative processes to anticipate the needs, wants and desires of future societies. The showcase will be open to the public from today, Saturday, 10^th June until Sunday, 18^th June and will feature the work of undergraduates from NCAD’s Schools of Fine Art, Design, Education and Visual Culture, and postgraduates from the Master of Fine Art and MFA Art in the Digital World programmes. Work in progress from postgraduate students in the Schools of Design and Education will also be on display, together with a selection of live industry projects undertaken by Design students.

In total, work by 329 students features in the NCAD 2017 Show. The showcase presents an annual opportunity to exhibit the creative identities of students as they launch their careers.

Highlights of the 2017 graduate showcase include:

• An interactive virtual reality installation by MFA Fine Art student Elaine Hoey, Stranger than Fiction is Fact utilises technology to disrupt and destabilise the viewer’s navigation and understanding of our current political mediascape.
• Repeal Chain by BA Visual Culture student, Leanne Woodfull, is a collaborative project with the aim of creating an activist platform to educate those outside of Ireland on the Repeal the 8th campaign.
• Through personal interviews and anecdotes, The Curious Paradox by Visual Communication student Conor Foran, sheds light on the shy presence of stammering in our society.
• A Culinary Childhood by Jewellery & Metalwork student, Sinead Christie, explores the challenging and memorable personal moments that she has experienced with her family. ?By taking the fork and spoon motifs, Christie turns them into personal and quirky reflections of both her and her family, while showing how love stands in the face of adversity.
• Demolishing the Memories by Joint Painting & Education student, Adam McGrane, is a tribute to the people of St. Teresa’s Gardens on the occasion of the demolition of the flat complex. McGrane’s work captures the moment the resident’s homes were destroyed through using raw materials from the scene as an artistic medium. It offers an insight into the thriving community spirit that once existed, its balcony culture and an intimate view into the characters of St. Teresa’s Gardens.
• The space and distance between people can often be increased, even when living within close proximity to one another. The perceptions which Sculpture & Expanded Practice student Kevin O?Kelly has incorporated into his installation, Something about the way you look, manipulates the two-way visibility of witnessing somebody alone in a space, while also being conscious of loneliness as being visible to others. He explores the tension produced by these factors.
• Shackleton by Product Design student Adam Blagburn, explores our sensory perceptions and questions the values we place on everyday experience. ?Through haptic navigation and inflatable location mapping Shackleton acts as a tool for modern sensory exploration, disrupting everyday routine.

The NCAD 2017 Show will open to the public on Saturday, 10^th June at 10am. The exhibitions will run until Sunday, 18^th June across NCAD’s campus at 100 Thomas Street and The Annex, 101-103 James? Street, where work from Master of Fine Art and MFA Art in the Digital World programmes will be displayed.