Aoife Tighe
My current work is interested in the still and moving image, by constructing still life photographs and animating them by making gradual and sequential alterations to the subject. Focusing on the symbolism of an object, I try to draw this out into a playful narrative. The materials I use are vital to my concept so for instance, in the project Burial with the subject of plastic pollution, I use recycled materials and items I had to hand.
Scáthchruth, a project I worked on last year it is based on Irish mythology, a subject I’ve always found fascinating especially since there is so little known about it, as much of the written material was destroyed. Other current work has been influenced by Ori Gersht, whose work looks at the relationships between history, memory and landscape. Using beautiful imagery, the viewer is visually seduced before being confronted with darker and more complex themes, presenting a tension between beauty and violence.
Burial
Burial contributes to the global conversation of plastic pollution and its impact on life on Earth. A personal outcome of my research is that I have become more conscious of the amount of plastic that goes unnoticed until it is tossed away. I see how fast the plastic bin fills up and realise how little plastic is recyclable. Now we know that micro-fibres released in the production and consumption of mass-produced textiles and furnishing fillers pollute marine environments. It seems we have been digesting plastic through our consumption of smaller shellfish for some time, as plastics and toxic e-Waste seeps into the oceans and the planet’s atmosphere. I applied my skills to the creation of GIF animations that I would filter into the online social space, where the speed of awareness is accelerated through the circulation of information.
My dissertation analyses online identities in the world of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) specifically how gamers transgress gender and race norms in an exploration of identity through digitally visualised fantasy. These fantasies are staged through the creation of customised avatars where players project their new selves openly to the game-world. These character creators are the tool in the exploration and experimentation of the self, they offer the player a break from the mundane into a world of fantasy, away from the real and into the virtual. Further, the concept of the carnivalesque is introduced to explore online gaming and its avatarisation allows an exploration of gender and race both vicariously and playfully.
Photobook
I made my book in the form of a concertina, as I thought the standard book form would be too restricting for my project. I wanted the still images from my GIFs to flow onto the page without intervention.