Blinded By The Very Force It Imagined It Could Handle

Activity: Other

Description

A film from Donovan Wylie and Peter Mann, exhibited by Belfast Exposed, which contains never before seen footage from the demolition of the Maze Prison in 2007.

Credits:
By Donovan Wylie and Peter Mann
With the voice of Paula McFetridge reading excerpts of ‘The Iliad or the Poem of Force’ by Simone Weil.
Produced by Deirdre Robb for Belfast Exposed
Post Production Producer - Declan Keeney
Sound Designer - Michael McKnight
Photography and Editing - Donovan Wylie and Peter Mann

From Belfast Exposed website:
"Donovan Wylie and filmmaker Peter Mann recorded the demolition of an internal perimeter wall of the Maze/Long Kesh Prison, as part of Wylie's work to document the demolition of the site following the prison's final closure. It is this, previously unseen, work that forms the basis of Blinded by the very force it imagined it could handle.

In this new work, Wylie continues to chronicle the architecture of conflict. His work is rooted in the idea of art as an antidote to the nihilism that conflict can induce, and was influenced by his experiences as a child growing up during the Troubles (Wylie was born in Belfast in 1971). In Blinded by the very force it imagined it could handle, the scenes of the demolition are directed so that at different moments, the viewer feels oppressed by the wall of the Maze, and then paradoxically protected by it. The almost overwhelming sound as the wall is destroyed evokes Wylie’s childhood memories of sleep broken by explosions in the city, and the destruction of the wall creates a space into which a sense of peace emerges. The film features excerpts of Simone Weil's ‘The Iliad or the Poem of Force’, read by Paula McFetridge.

Belfast Exposed will also be using Blinded by the very force it imagined it could handle as an opportunity to publicly open the Bank Gallery, a new complex of exhibitions and event spaces and artist studios on Belfast's High Street. This will be the first public event held in the Bank Gallery."
PeriodApr 2023Jul 2023
Held atBelfast Exposed