Parse (2014)

PARSE OR, HOW A RIGHT-HANDED PERSON CAN GO ALL THE WAY AROUND THE UNIVERSE AND COME BACK LEFT-HANDED, BUT STILL THE SAME...

Parse was exhibited at IMMA - Irish Museum of Modern Art, in Unseen Presence, curated by Janice Hough, during my time there as artist-in-residence; and developed as part of Consent Volenti, an expansive project at ISCP - International Studio & Curatorial Program and the The Art & Law Program, Fordham University, New York, with thanks to Arts Council Ireland. Written, animated and whispered by Sonia Shiel. Parse uses hand-painted and appropriated footage, model-making, animated sculpture, and stop-motion animation.

‘Parse’ is the story of a young girl determined to bring about the return of her mother from a trip to outer space - in accordance with the laws of jocular physics, under which her world is ruled. Set in a cartoon-habitat, where things fall consciously; space and distance are compressed; death is recoverable from and stars are souvenirs - what at first seems to be a child's efforts to comprehend a tragic lie becomes the rationale for her mother's absence, and even promises a plausible return. However a happy ending and the suspension of our belief are threatened by the very syntax that constructs them.