A short journey (from Derry to Inishowen)

Abstract

The consideration of one’s ‘place’ has been a constant factor in Conor McFeely’s practice. Place is given as much as it is chosen, which has led McFeely to probe how much choice and free will a person has. Though not always foregrounded this questioning of autonomy is an ongoing consideration of his work, whose contexts have been varied and include references to literature, cinema, art history and social and political contexts. This approach to making has led him to create a vocabulary of object-signs, which are questioned and continuously developed. An understanding of ‘place’ is frequently informed by historical events. This relationship is a constant feature in McFeely’s practice and has led to a coalescence of references that he compares to a Venn diagram. This merging of layers can be thought of as a waking dream, a meandering rumination, a recall provoking the idea of the interplay between a hinterland of the imagination and memory, and the grounding ef fect of tangible material presence. This meandering is acted out in Flann O’Brien’s novel The Third Policeman where the journey of the main protagonist drif ts across place and time. His experience is one of managing his own disorientation.