The second of three Rough Cut events that aemi will present across 2024 took place on May 28th online. Rough Cut sessions offer film artists the opportunity to share and discuss works-in-progress in a supportive peer environment and they form a vital part of our Artist Support programme.
Two-three, artist-filmmakers present work at each event and we invite a guest curator, programmer, critic or producer to lead the event by offering feedback and responses to both projects. The topics discussed are specific to each presentation, ranging from concept development and production methodology to exhibition strategy. These events are not open to the public; instead the audience is made up of a small group of peers who are invited to actively participate in the conversations about both works. Because the works being presented and discussed are still in process, Rough Cut events are not recorded for public presentation.
Film artists Cáit and Éiméar McClay and Julie Weber presented work at Rough Cut on May 28th and David Upton, Public Programme Manager at LUX Scotland was invited to lead the responses to both projects.
David Upton (he/him) joined LUX Scotland in December 2018. He previously worked as Assistant Curator and Tour Coordinator with Project Arts Centre, Dublin. David continues to work as a freelance curator through exhibitions, publications and screenings. He has written exhibition reviews for MAP Magazine, Enclave Review, and Collected and has written texts for several artists’ publications. He has been a visiting lecturer at Crawford College of Art and Design, Cork.
Cáit McClay and Éiméar McClay are collaborative interdisciplinary artists currently based in Glasgow. Their practice comprises video, 3D models, 3D prints, writing, stained glass and installation. Their recent work has analysed both the British Imperial project in Ireland and the period following the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922 to examine the cultural, political and economic effects of colonisation. This has involved a focus on the network of social institutions—Magdalene Laundries, mother and baby homes, psychiatric institutions etc.—run by the Catholic church and the state in Ireland across the 20th century. Recently, their collaborative work has been selected for numerous esteemed exhibitions, residencies and awards, including Circa Class of ‘20; Bloomberg New Contemporaries ‘20; TH4Y, GENERATORprojects; the 17th & 18th Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival New Cinema Award; the Hospitalfield Graduate Programme; the Market Gallery Studio Projects residency; the CCA Derry digital residency; the Arts Council of Ireland Agility Award ‘21 & ‘22; RSA New Contemporaries ‘22; the RSA Stuart Prize; the 56th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival; Queer Lisboa; aemi@GAZE ‘22; the Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival; Festival du Nouveau Ciné; Intersección, MAV Award; the Beijing International Short Film Festival; the CCA Glasgow Creative Lab residency; Docs Ireland, Belfast; Memoryhouse, Glebe House; the Creative Scotland Open Fund Award; SQIFF; Other Worlds, Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny; and zoombiblestudy, Galerie FaVU, Brno.
“Our recent work a border of flat stones has analysed both the British Imperial project in Ireland and the period following the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922 to examine the cultural, political and economic effects of colonisation. This has involved a focus on the network of social institutions—Magdalene Laundries, mother and baby homes, etc.—run by the Catholic church and the state in Ireland across the 20th century. In April 2022, we participated in a two-week-long residency at Hospitalfield, Arbroath, during which we began the research and development for a project exploring 19th-20th Irish asylums and psychiatric institutions. In October 2022, we continued this research during a month-long Creative Lab residency at CCA Glasgow. In November 2022, with the CCA’s support, we visited the Donegal County Council Archives in Ireland to gather primary materials regarding St. Conal’s psychiatric hospital, Letterkenny, which we wish to develop into a fully resolved film. The Department of Health’s Commission of Inquiry on Mental Illness Report 1966 reported an Irish psychiatric hospital patient registration rate of 7.3 per capita, the highest rate of psychiatric institutionalisation in the world at that time. Through our film, we wish to explore why this phenomenon occurred specifically within the context of Ireland by analysing both its position as a country in a state of postcolonial development during the 20th century and the reverberative effects of colonial traumas such as the Great Famine (1845-49) on the social and physical wellbeing of the population.”
Julie Weber examines the concepts of being and becoming, through film and performance works, textiles, and sound compositions. Responding to sites and environments, Weber captures tales of rhythmic behaviours, micro-evolutions and habitual absurdities. With a deep exploration of world-making and materiality, she creates intricate and textured landscapes, merging hand-made and technological methods to create mutated and self-reflexive forms.
Recent projects include the film launch and screening of ‘The Supremacy of Mathematical Dreaming’ with IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art) (2023), ‘Fensive’ screening at iidrr gallery, New York (2023), ‘Hek Hek Hoo’ a collaboration with RHA Kids for IPUT’s Living Canvas at Wilton Park, RHA (Royal Hibernian Academy) (2023). Recipient of the Visual Artist Project Award (2024) from the Arts Council, Multimedia Artist in Residence at Dublin City University (2022), Recipient of the Agility Award from the Arts Council (2021). A lecturer in Moving Image, across Design and Fine Art at the National College of Art and Design (2023).
Boundless Seams shares a portrait of Laura Weber, a New York-based designer and embroidery specialist, as she crafts the first independently designed uniforms for the Irish Olympians for Paris 2024. The filmmaker, Julie Weber, who is also Laura’s sister, extracts the interlinking rhythms and relationships that keep this process in motion, through documentary, experimental visuals and performance. It intertwines two vastly different fields and siblings, uniting them through movement, care and discipline.
If you’re a film artist, producer or curator and have an interest in attending Rough Cut in the future, contact us at [email protected]
