Jaki Irvine =
=


The Silver Bridge



SMART Project Space

Opening on Saturday 9th September at 21:00

Afterparty from 22.30

13th September - 14th October 2006





The Silver Bridge is an eight channel video installation that pulls togethe=
r some of Jaki Irvine’s most powerfully consistent propositions. Fi=
lmed in part in Dublin Zoo, The Silver Bridge picks a path through oblique =
narrative, seductive imagery and a growing awareness of human and animal aw=
kwardness. The story behind The Silver Bridge is characteristically elusive=
, told with a compelling selection of repeatedly unexpected scenes. From be=
ginning to end, the notion of animism provides an allegorical relationship =
to that of the human condition. Irvine leads us on an experiential journey =
without dictating a position, letting the scenes interweave with the logic =
of our journey through the new exhibition spaces of SMART Project Space.

Starlings, swirling in flocks and oscillating against a blue sky are the en=
try into The Silver Bridge. The small specks of black create a community of=
form, a single body of communication, all riding currents in the air where=
individuals cluster then disperse as a unified body of individually flappi=
ng wings.



So begins an evocative journey through space and narrative. Each film withi=
n the eight channels of The Silver Bridge presents another window into the =
world. There is a tangible narrative structure which uses oblique and at ti=
mes surreal form to forge connections between scenes, incidents, or the mom=
entary isolation of an image; the blinking of a woman’s eyes when s=
lowed to the speed of a nature documentary, or wild deer grazing with carel=
ess confidence in a forested terrain interrupted by the presence of stark w=
hite doors going nowhere, promising nothing. The awkwardness pervading each=
scene is emblematic of the broader intention of the work; bats, captured i=
n the artificial confines of a zoo terrain crawl across the ground, claws g=
rappling at earth, wings scratching in the undergrowth; the diminishing for=
m of a woman in black crawling along the decayed limbs of an old silver bri=
dge, making slow, uncomfortable progress. This repeated positioning of indi=
vidual and communal social behaviour through the worlds of animals, birds a=
nd humans are the touch-stones for the viewer’s journey through the=
work and through Irvine’s layered and obtuse narrative. As one pro=
gresses through the exhibition spaces, the unifying evocation of what it is=
to return to a place seeps to the surface. By coming home, a self-consciou=
s awareness of exterior perceptions is confronted with an interior knowledg=
e of self, implying that all return is a negotiation with the past - with w=
hat has changed and with what apparently remains the same. Like walking thr=
ough somewhere familiar yet different, one is both at home and a stranger,=
at ease but also awkward, or estranged.

As the cycle completes, two women - hanging bat-like from the silve=
r bridge - are locked in an embrace, finding a brief moment of bala=
nce somewhere between memory and fantasy before losing it again.



As dusk settles over the luminously glowing old bridge, only one solitary f=
igure remains, hanging, sheltering, alone beneath the silver bridge.



We request the pleasure of your company at the exhibition opening of Jaki I=
rvine: The Silver Bridge at 21.00 and on into the night for an Afterparty w=
ith visuals and sounds from Egle Budvytyte, Nathalie Bruys and Byungjun Kwo=
n.



Jaki Irvine currently lives and works in Dublin, having spent many years in=
London and in Italy. Her works are single or multi-screen videos that expl=
ore with a melancholic and dreamlike humour the interaction between the nat=
ural world and the built environment, fuelled by a fascination with the hum=
an condition.



Irvine represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale in 1997 and her works hav=
e been shown in solo and group exhibitions at The Irish Museum of Modern Ar=
t, Kerlin Gallery, Tate Britain, Delfina Project Space and in many other ve=
nues throughout Europe, Australia and Japan.



The presentation of The Silver Bridge is generously supported by Culture Ir=
eland.



SMART Project Space is kindly supported by the Mondriaan Foundation, Gemeen=
te Amsterdam, Project BroedplaatsAmsterdam, Stichting Doen, Filmfonds, Prin=
s Bernhard Cultuurfonds.



For further information please contact Tessa Giblin, Head of Exhibitions: t=
essa@smartprojectspace.net

Further information and updates visit: www.smartprojectspace.net



How to get here: www.smartprojectspace.net/info/location


Opening hours: Wednesday - Saturday, 12:00-18:00 hrs


SMART Project Space | Arie Biemondstraat 105-113 | NL-1054 PD Amsterdam

phone: +31 20 42 75951 | fax +31 20 247 59 53 | www.smartprojectspace.net


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