Portfollio

 The Pom Pom Project

Facilliated by Alice Burns at the University of Ulster and Portavogie County Down Northern Ireland.

Project By Natalie Jones
Flickr group: www.flickr.com/groups/pompom_project/

Emerging v Established Exhibition
Curator Alice Burns

Exhibiting Artists

Alice Burns, Anna Marie Savage, Betty Brown ARUA, Bill Penney, Chris Davis, David-Lee Badger, Declan Byrne, Eoin McGinn, Georgia McBride, Geraldine Owens, Janet Preston, Gerry Murphy, Keith Winter, Mary Martin, Ned Jackson-Smyth, Tony Hill, Willie Heron

In Memoriam by Alice Burns

Continuing on from her degree show, Burns’ work for Emerging v Established deals with emotional reaction, how things are perceived, and the notion of “fifteen minutes of fame”. The work, In Memoriam takes a tongue in cheek view of the Death of A Degree Show and utilises the ‘grieving process’ to create a visual and literary interpretation of; emotion, perception and fame. The work embraces the pomp and circumstance of the Victoria notion of Memento mori "Remember your mortality".

Video of Burning Degree Work

Emerging v Established

A Fusion of Contemporary Art

Alice Burns brings together the most exciting and innovative artwork of University of Ulster graduates and some of Northern Ireland's leading visual artists. Steeped in history Belfast's Cathedral Quarter is a mix of the traditional and contemporary. This juxtaposition is extended to emerging talent and established visual artists to deliver an exciting and innovative fusion of art.

20th -31 August, 11am – 4pm

SUBMISSION TO SWITCH PROJECT
Alice Burns


Statement and Work In response to “The Scale of Things”

Visitors to TATE

Dominique Gonzales-Foresters’ TH.2058 filled the upper level of the Turbine Hall at TATE Modern with gargantuan monsters and an awful lot of bunk beds. Even so, the space still felt huge, yet strangely claustrophobic at the same time. The space was Intersected by Green and Red, visitors moved from one space to the other through the wall of colour. Visitors changed from specks on the horizon morphing into forms that could be part of TH.2058 in scale and form. Viewing things through a camera lens distorts our perception of scale and provides us with a surrealistic view of the world around us.

DEGREE SHOW BA HONS FINE AND APPLIED ART 2010 FIRST CLASS HONOURS

Artists Statement Alice Burns 2010
CAN YOU SEE ME
“All Works Of Art Though Visible Represent Invisible Things” Bill Viola In 2003

This body of work developed from a photographic essay on marginalised people and how we interact with them. People that we see everyday but choose not to acknowledge with eye contact. Our response makes these people INVISABLE.

At the outset I did not think that I was taking advantage of, or exploiting the people in my images. As I was not seeking the sensational image, rather an honest attempt to document the marginalised people in today’s society.

As the work was realised I came to see that I was exploiting the subjects in my images. My aim was to capture the essence of the person not just the disability, hopelessness, or, isolation. To have the viewer question why they avoid eye contact with certain people.

As this photographic journey progressed several realisations and personal difficulties came to be during the process. As a result the images are more subtle in their expression and depiction of those marginalised by society. Some of the pieces are difficult to look at; they may make you feel uncomfortable. You may find it difficult to focus your eye on some of the images, this is intentional.

This body of work was realised by taking a traditional process and genre and juxtaposing these with new technology and materials to create an interactive work that will provoke a reaction or emotions in the viewer. These could be: Curiosity, apprehension, fear, interest, realisation, compassion, change, aversion. I want to facilitate the viewer to see the moment in time as I saw it, that the experience of interacting  with and viewing the work transmits to the viewer the feelings and emotions that I experienced when composing and making the image. The only reaction I do not want to invoke from the viewer is INDIFERENCE.