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Second Diamond Award ALCINE 53 



11/08/24

 
‘Few Can See’ has been awarded the Second Diamond in the European Short Film Awards at ALCINE 53 in Cine de Alcalá de Henares / Comunidad de Madrid, Spain!


Anthology screenings NYC + Screen Slate article




11/08/24

 
‘Few Can See’ has been screening at Anthology Film Archives in New York City as part of their summer ‘Verbatim’ series.

The final screening is today and Screen Slate have published an article on the film:

“Darkness and static opens Frank Sweeney’s Few Can See, a film that tries to fill the gaps in Ireland’s public memory. After an introductory montage, a 1980s news reporter informs us that a broadcast strike has broken out across Ireland and the United Kingdom in response to a “culture of self-censorship” around the violence in Northern Ireland. She goes on to say that instead of regular programming, her and her striking colleagues at RTÉ, Ireland’s public broadcaster, will examine how this censorship came to reign and the stories ignored because of it.“
Read the full Screen Slate article here︎.

Special Mention from The Jury FILMADRID Awards




16/06/24

 
‘Few Can See’ has been awarded a Special Mention from the Jury at the FILMADRID Awards 2024.  

The jury noted:
“Frank Sweeney makes use of the idea and medium of television to transgress the limits between virtuality and reality. For making the complex seem simple and finding suitable paths, full of acidity and a sense of humor, to connect past with present and make us reflect on issues as fundamental as freedom of expression."

Film Reviews/Press:

The visit was funded by Culture Ireland.

‘Few Can See’ wins Tiger Short award at IFFR




04/02/24

 
‘Few Can See’ has been awarded the Tiger Short award at International Film Festival Rotterdam. More info here.

The Tiger Short Jury 2024 was former Tiger Short Award-winner Mónica Lima, writer, programmer, and researcher Yasmina Price and distributor, curator and festival producer. Jade Wiseman. A statement from the jury on ‘Few Can See’ below:

“History lives on shaky, uncertain grounds. Through imaginative reenactments and dynamic manipulation, this film exposes an always-present crisis around truth and evidence, document and fiction. Even as a colonial struggle over land and life is destroying another geography in the present, this film’s setting of 1980s Northern Ireland is a reminder of still active histories of repression and resistance. Using archival materials and oral histories to fill in what was erased through broadcast censorship, this film is a lesson in recovering the past.”

‘Few Can See’ in competition at IFFR




18/12/23

 
‘Few Can See’ will receive its world premiere in competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).

“Seamlessly weaving archival material with masterfully convincing reenacted footage, Few Can See throws us into a television set as it covers the late 1980s conflict in Northern Ireland. The film brings life what was intentionally omitted from the archive, shedding light on the blackout strikes that were broadcast across Ireland and Britain in response to media censorship.”  

The Land of Saints, Sinners & Big Tom 




30/08/23

 
Film critic Ruairí McCann has written a piece linking ‘2 Channel Land’ and Cat and Eímear McClay‘s film ‘A mother's love for her baby‘. You can read the piece on Ruairí’s substack here.

“It reaches a zenith with Doherty and McCauley appearing as floating, crooning icons in the sky, like ad hoc guardian angels beamed into your living room. The tunes are not songs of praises for any authority, divine or earthbound, or offer an easily sellable or imposed idea of happiness and community delivered with a cracking, rictus grin. Their themes for film which imagines a popular art powered by the people and filled with rebellion and play.”
 

New fan video for Lorraine McCauley song 



26/08/22

 
I just came across this wonderful fan video for Lorraine McCauley’s ‘Come on Down (To The Border Town)’. The track was commissioned for ‘2 Channel Land’ (2022) and Lorraine plays the part of a mysterious border pirate radio host in the film.
 

Best Short Documentary at LUFF 2022



27/07/22

 
‘People enjoy my company’ has won the Best Short Documentary Award at Lausanne Underground Film & Music Festival 2022 in Switzerland.

“The jury chose this documentary because of the picturework (mixed media, archival images, pixelation, ...), and wonderful sound design. We liked the idea of putting the Y2K bug in parallel with the one that has occurred in human communication since then. We enjoyed the fact that the subject was treated in a collective rather than an individual point of view."
 

EVA Platform Commission Interview



25/08/22

 
An interview about my upcoming Platform Commission project for EVA International 2023 can be found here.

“Frank Sweeney is one of six artists working with EVA International as part of the ‘Platform Commissions’ initiative of the 40th EVA International (31 August – 29 October 2023). In this Q&A, the artist briefly introduces the project and his working practice."

Talk @ IMMA Nights



25/08/22


I will be talking with curator Claire Walsh and artists Roo Honeychild and Cóilín O’Connell about the no_matter_here project currently on display as part of IMMA 30: The Anthroposcene exhibition in the Garden Galleries.

The Anthropocene – More-than-human is a series of talks, music, art and performance, co-curated with Dublin Digital Radio (ddr). The programme takes the form of a hybrid radio show, with live performances in the Courtyard simultaneously broadcast to ddr listeners far and wide. Featuring artists Edy Fung, Osaro, Aonní (Aisling Ór Ní Aodha and Colm Keady-Tabbal) and no_matter_here (Frank Sweeney, Cóilín O'Connell and Roo Honeychild).

More info here

Interview on BBC Radio Foyle


16/07/22


Myself and Tom O’Dea spoke with Eve Blair on BBC Radio Foyle about our forthcoming exhibition at CCA Derry. You can listen back here.

The Centre for Contemporary Art is delighted to present our summer exhibition with Bojana Janković and a collaboration between Tom O’Dea and Frank Sweeney. Ballads of Rhinestones & Newcomers brings together two counterpointing experiences of the border between the UK and Republic of Ireland at a time when the realities of Brexit are playing out.

2 Channel Land by Frank Sweeney and Tom O’Dea looks at the history of analogue radio and television signals spilling across the borders of these islands. Reflecting the complex spatial territories that were produced by transmitters and their environment, the work takes the form of a radio sculpture that permeates the gallery. Moving through the space using handheld radios, the sculpture presents an archive of audience memories, border pirate radio stations and TV deflector systems built by communities to capture and retransmit signals from across the border.

40th EVA International Platform Commission



22/02/22


I am delighted to have received a Platform Commission for the 40th EVA International—Ireland’s Biennial of Contemporary Art. More details have been announced on e-flux.

EVA is pleased to announce the selected artists for the Platform Commissions programme of the 40th EVA International—Ireland’s Biennial of Contemporary Art: Sarah Durcan, Phillip McCrilly, Sharon Phelan, Frank Sweeney, Cliodhna Timoney, and Amna Walayat. Pádraic E. Moore described the process of selection as follows: "The quality of all shortlisted submissions is a testament to the incredibly high standard of visual art being produced in Ireland today. The final selection demonstrates some of the ways that the theme of citizenship can be interpreted and reflects manifold but complimentary artistic approaches. I look forward with anticipation to seeing how these projects evolve over the coming year."

Project Studio at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios



20/12/21


I am deligthed to have been awarded a Project Studio at Temple Bar Gallery and Studios for 2022.

Project Studios are aimed at artists developing exciting emerging practices. The artists were awarded their studios by a selection panel including a current TBG+S Studio and Board member, and established curators based in Ireland and internationally, following an open submission application process. The artists will begin their studio tenure over the coming months. Each of the awarded artists share an acute connection to some element of the world that, as a whole, encompasses a wide range of vital concerns in contemporary life. Their exciting practices encourage expansive thinking that offers alternative ways of perceiving familiar subjects. We look forward to welcoming them all into the TBG+S community.


Talk at DATA event in A4 Sounds



12/11/2021

I am speaking about my film People enjoy my company and collaborative project no_matter_here at the DATA 67.0 Event in A4 Sounds, Dublin.

Paul O’Neill will also be discussing his ongoing research on the physical and corporate infrastructures of the internet in Ireland.

WHEN: Thursday November 18th 2021, 19.30 – 21.30
WHERE: A4 Sounds Gallery, St Joseph’s Parade, Off Dorset Street – Dublin 01
ADMISSION: Free –  due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation spaces are limited and booking is required.
Tickets available here

‘People enjoy my company’ at IMMA



28/09/2021

A special version of my film ‘People enjoy my company’ has installed at the Irish Museum of Modern Art as part of the Narrow Gate of the Here-and-Now: Chapter 2 Anthropocene exhibition. The show is open now and running until Sept 2022 in The Garden Galleries.

Prints from the collaborative no_matter_here project have also been installed in the same room feat. artists Aoife O’Toole, Coilín O’Connel, Michelle Doyle, Gary Merrin & Anthony O’Conner
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The Narrow Gate of the Here-and-Now traces urgent themes across a 30-year period as they impact the personal, the political and the planetary, and prompts thinking about the effects of globalisation today in the Irish context as we respond to global crises from COVID-19 to Climate Change and the Black Lives Matter movement. The exhibition explores ideas of bodily autonomy, conflict and protest, the Anthropocene era, and digital technologies, through the rich holdings of the IMMA Collection and Archive which represent a diverse history of artistic responses to these themes.

Screening at Transmediale HKW Berlin



06/07/2021

My film ‘People enjoy my company’ will screen on the 20th of July as part of the ‘out of doors’ programme at Transmediale Festival Berlin.

The screenings will take place at Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin is Germany's national center for the presentation and discussion of international contemporary arts. Tickets can be purchased here.

Taking place across HKW’s Westgarten, transmediale out of doors brings together film, music, performance and talks that engage with the aesthetics and politics of refusal. By addressing opposition to state power, apolitical interfaces and network bias, over five evenings the programme explores the forces of refusal that tie to tenderness, care, joyful dissent, late nights and dirt.

Agitation Co-op review in Totally Dublin



06/07/2021


Totally Dublin review of the Agitation Co-op show at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios. The exhibition features my film with Eva Richardson McCrea and the Dublin Dockworkers Preservation Society, Made Ground.

Read the review here

no_matter_here at Brightening Air



11/06/2021


no_matter_here launches today at Brightening Air. The web zine and digital exhibition is a collaboration between myself and Cóilín O’Connell featuring artwork and writings from Michelle Doyle, Roo Honeychild, Eva George Richardson McCrea, Gary Merrin, Anthony O'Connor, Rachel O’Dwyer, Paul O’Neill and Aoife O’Toole.

Presented as part of Brightening Air | Coiscéim Coiligh, a nationwide, ten day season of arts experiences brought to you by the Arts Council. To see the full Brightening Air | Coiscéim Coiligh programme, visit www.brighteningair.com

DJ FREE TIME + KEITH DAVIS LIVE @ DHG



23/04/21


The Douglas Hyde Gallery is delighted to present the first of a new series of Music Sessions with an emphasis on artistic practices that blur and break traditional genre boundaries through music. The programme supports and commissions new work, inviting artists to create new and fun engagements through music.

7pm - Friday April 23rd
Tune in on Dublin Digital Radio or on the temporary signal 108FM if your in the Portobello area
(Shout outs in the ddr. chatbox)

The piece is first in a series of works relating to the film ‘People enjoy my company’, screening in June 2021 and supported by The Arts Council of Ireland.

Thanks Pirate.ie, Radio Retro, Rhythmirl Youtube channel and Radiowaves.fm for archival material.

Arts Council Collection



30/12/20


My film with Eva Richardson McCrea and the Dublin Dockworkers Preservation Society has been purchased for the Arts Council Collection: Collection of the Arts Council of Ireland.

The Collection was established in 1962 and is one of the most important National Collections in the Country. All of the pieces were collected while the artists were working, rather than a Museum where works are collected retrospectively. The Collection tells the story of modern Irish art as it developed over fifty years

Artist Talk at IMMA Archives Live




28/09/20


Archives LIVE, presented by IMMA and aemi, comprises a series of live streamed public dialogues that reflect on the significant role played by the archive and museum collection in artist moving image culture, both in generating new work and as an overarching structure that supports the conservation of existing moving image practice. Special guests taking part in this session include acclaimed artists Helen Cammock, Onyeka Igwe, Frank Sweeney and others.

Audio recording of the discussion:

Made Ground at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios



08/06/20


‘Made Ground’ (2019) will be screened as part of Agitation Co-op group show at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios in January 2021 alongside artists Michele Horrigan, Catriona Leahy, Laurie Robins, Libita Sibungu, Forensic Architecture and Melanie Smith.

This exhibition unsettles historical, political, cultural, archaeological, industrial, and agricultural narratives from a local to global scale. Often relating to the land and landscape (what it is formed of, who controls it, who can access it, what is its value). In an Irish context, this relates to historical colonial rule and fragmentation of the landscape, the current housing crisis, the Irish border, and the tensions around it reprised by Brexit. Taking an international perspective these fissures are strained by the global economy, the threat of war and mass displacement of populations. The invited artists work collaboratively with researchers, writers, musicians, publishers, and activists, emphasising the importance of collective action in response to deep-rooted structural opposition.

Wexford Documentary Film Festival screening



11/09/20


‘All I beleive happened there was vision’ (2020) has been selected for at Wexford Documentary Film Festival in September 2020. It screen under the ‘Artist as Activist’ short film programme.  

‘All I believe happened..’ launches aemi online



11/09/20


My film ‘All I believe happened there was vision’ (2020) will launch the new aemi online exhibition space with a commissioned text from Rebecca O’Dwyer. The film will screen from the 22nd of July until the 1st of September.

Frank Sweeney’s film All I believe happened there was vision emerged from a period of research with the National Folklore Collection at UCD and incorporates both archival and shot material. Taking the form of a travelogue, the film seeks out a mythical Irish otherworld by way of the more overtly contemporary spaces that now, at least in part, define our image of the Irish nation state: data centres, housing projects and financial centres. All I believe happened there was vision was funded by St. Patrick’s Festival and was initially due to screen as part of this festival in an exhibition at A4 Sounds in Dublin, but the arrival of Covid-19 prevented this from taking place. aemi are delighted to premiere the film, along with a commissioned introductory text by Rebecca O’Dwyer, as the inaugural exhibition of our newly launched online platform.

Residency at Science Gallery



23/06/20


Awarded a Rapid Residency at Science Gallery.

Art-science collaborations play a unique role in public engagement, but how do you facilitate transdisciplinary collaborations when you can’t get groups together, can’t meet in person – can’t even go to the office or the studio? Faced with this challenge, Science Gallery Dublin piloted a virtual residency programme, which supported artists to collaborate with expert researchers on developing a new project or idea over 5 weeks. Due to an overwhelming response, plus support from the Provost’s Academic Development Fund, we were able to support 18 proposals.

Best Soundscape at the Irish Theatre Awards


25/01/20


I have been nominated for Best Soundscape at the Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards for my work on It was easy (in the end). A THEATREclub and Abbey Theatre co-production in 2019.