In this tour, Cáit Murph would like to pose questions about screens, technology, memory, and meaning in relation to Leslie Hewitt’s Reading Room: Forty-Two (2019). Reading Room: Forty-Two is a 42-minute long text-based html programmed moving-image work, which appears as a continuous scroll of words that Hewitt collected while researching the National Memorial African Bookstore. The title references the 42 years that Lewis Michaux operated the bookstore, from 1932 to 1974, in Harlem, New York. The words come from books visible in archival photos of the shop, as well as Hewitt’s own thoughts while conducting this research. The words appear on the screen as objects open to semiosis, but also as geometric blocks, perhaps like architecture. This ephemera occurs in a sparse space that is constructed and deconstructed — a washed-out landscape. Viewers are invited to interact and make up their own minds. How does this piece present the “virtual” and “tangible”? Hewitt converges print media with digital media in this piece, challenging notions about the “archive” and how we store and reproduce data. The feeling of duration, or durée in the words of Henri Bergson and Gilles Deleuze, is perhaps apparent here. We not only experience the present moment without much notice, but also feel the weight of time passing, creating and revisiting memories. It may remind us of our own ubiquitous device screens. Is our memory becoming worse because of screen time? Has Hewitt challenged notions about technology and minimalism as austere, cold, and lacking in human touch? Has she instead created a warm piece, filled with nostalgia, respect, and melancholy?
The Douglas Hyde is delighted to present a new music session where artist Bill Harris will host an experimental electronic dance night as part of our First Thursday series. Through this new series of late openings, the gallery becomes a space for hosting unexpected, experimental practices across multiple artforms from live music and expanded cinema […]
The Douglas Hyde is delighted to present a new music session with music assemble Kirkos as part of our First Thursday series. Through this new series of late openings, the gallery becomes a space for hosting unexpected, experimental practices across multiple artforms from live music and expanded cinema to performance and spoken word. Join us each […]
The Douglas Hyde is delighted to present a new performance by artist Isadora Epstein as part of our First Thursday series. Through this new series of late openings, the gallery becomes a space for hosting unexpected, experimental practices across multiple artforms from live music and expanded cinema to performance and spoken word. Join us each First […]
The Douglas Hyde is delighted to share details of this upcoming talk by Dr John Bosco Conama on the history of Irish Sign Language in the context of Amanda Coogan’s Freude! Freude! project. Booking required. Please use the link on this page to book your place.
The Douglas Hyde is delighted to present an Artist Talk where artist Amanda Coogan will be joined in conversation by Dr Georgina Jackson, Director at The Douglas Hyde, to discuss the many aspects of Coogan’s Freude! Freude! project. Booking required. Please use the link on this page to book your place.
Open House is an annual three-day festival of architecture, opening up usually inaccessible architectural treasures to the public with a programme of tours and talks. A renowned example of Brutalist architecture, The Douglas Hyde Gallery will participate in Open House 2023 with a series of tours. Join us on 14 and 15 October 2023 for […]
Artists present us with new perspectives on the world we live in. Explore the exciting ideas behind our programmes, hear more from the artists we work with and discover new ways of engaging with art.
