Tributes

The Mechanics of Feeling (by Nina)

The Four Summers of Hope (by Alex)

This show is a presentation of work by two artists: sounds, associated personal objects, bric-a-brac, junk and plant life. These things made, stolen and accumulated are arranged about the place for you to come to terms with.
Summer and strange melancholy are interwoven in these works.

This year we have experienced soaring temperatures, wildfires and fatalities from heat, but as our world burns we are urged to go to the beach, remember sunblock and that one time in 1975 they banned hosepipes.
The constant cognitive dissonance around us can be maddening, but these two artists have found ways to channel their anxieties and feelings of being caught in-between to create something harsh and weird- but also a lot of fun.
They create conversations about the psyche and our somatic space, the balancing act we do between our inner and outer worlds. Both artists' works elicit what is remembered and what is felt; we are shown how sticky a substance this is: stuck in summer tree sap today, but under the right conditions, it can be golden amber.

There are two openings with performances:
Thursday 25 August 6-8pm
Thursday 01 September, Late Night Art 6-9pm.
Join us in performance, games- and if Lugh smiles on us- Karaoke.

About the Artists

Nina Oltarzewska is a French artist born in 1998 and based in Flax Studios, Belfast.
She works with sound, video and performance as well as sculpture and installation. Her works explore the embodied state and its effects on the psyche. From visceral reactions to stress to the mundane slow-burning bodily sensations that emanate from anxious states, her work interrogates the spectrum of emotional responses to anxiety and aims to normalise dialogue around these topics.
She completed her BA(Hons) Fine Art at the Belfast School of Art in July 2021 and will be commencing an MA at the Chelsea School of Art and Design (UAL) in September 2022.

Alex Plunkett, they pass calmly through solid objects like sunlight through glass. One of many candidates to end all life on earth. Unbeknownst, Alex has never met another living person. They are only arguably considered truly alive. Alex holds no land. They leave their collection of desperate greenery and half-tone instruments to whomsoever hoke them out of the damp yellow skip into which they have been turfed. They will never triumph. Alex leaves behind no progeny to chisel mollified digs into the cold stone of their grave. They love chocolate milk and naruto. They have never had a good night’s sleep.

Acknowledgements:
Thanks to Aisling O’Beirn, Alessia Cargnelli, Ruaidhri Lennon, St Josephs Church at Sailor town, University of Ulster Belfast.