These Islands (Diptych)

These Islands (Diptych) (2022), comprises footage from two previous films re-edited into a single, dual-screen, dual stereo audio version. First exhibited at I See Earth: Building and Ground (2022), on one wall is footage of site conditions and surroundings of the remains of Ballysadare Abbey, found at Abbeystown, Co. Sligo, a working quarry. On the opposite wall of the gallery is footage of the unauthorised development on commonage at Slievemore, Dooagh, Keel East, Co. Mayo – a concrete structure recalling a henge. Both sites are approached in similar fashion, with establishing shots and circumnavigation followed by interior views and a return to the periphery. The footage, originally shot in colour, is here flooded in blue light, used to illuminate the gallery space. The interplay of images between the two screens is choreographed by the soundtrack, a composite from both films dispersed across loudspeakers in each corner of the room. Simulating a transition from day to night, a complete cycle lasts 18 minutes, comprising 9 minutes of footage, after which a blue rectangle which gradually transition to white projects on both walls, and this transitions back to blue before the film recommences.