On Exactitude In Science

On Exactitude in Science

Alan Butler / Ireland / 2017 / 86 mins

National Sculpture Factory

Mon 12 – Wed 14 November 6pm – 12am*

Free Opening Drinks Reception: Mon 12 November, 5.30pm

Alan Butler’s installation On Exactitude in Science (2017), presented on two screens, comprises Godfrey Reggio’s motion picture Koyaanisqatsi (1983) in synchronicity with Butler’s shot-for-shot remake Koyaanisgtav (2017), which he has transposed into a new form using the virtual worlds within the Grand Theft Auto video game series. Reggio’s work was chosen by Butler as a paragon of the most popular visual medium of the 20th century: film. The original motion picture does not follow a formal screenplay as such; instead it embodies a poetic, pictorial mode of documentary filmmaking.

Originally commissioned by the Irish Museum of Modern Art, On Exactitude in Science takes its name from the Jorge Luis Borges short story, Del rigor en la ciencia (1946), which describes an ancient, fictional civilization that creates a 1:1 scale map of its territory.

Alan Butler’s work explores material and philosophical ideas about the functions of imagery and meaning in technologically mediated realities. Recent solo exhibitions include The Need To Argue In The Master’s Language, Visual Carlow, Ireland (2018); Down and Out in Los Santos, Malmö Fotobiennal, Sweden (2017); and HELIOSYNTH, Green on Red Gallery, Dublin (2017). His work is in the collections of IMMA, The Office of Public Works and Trinity College Dublin. He is represented by Green On Red Gallery, Ireland.

Alan Butler Artist Talk : ‘In-Game Photography and Cinema’

CCAE  Cork Center for  Architectural Education, Douglas Street

Q&A hosted by Cork Film Festival Senior Programmer Don O’ Mahony at 

Alan will discuss his recent work ‘On Exactitude in Science’ being screened at the National Sculpture Factory as part of this year’s Cork Film Festival as well as his approach to working with new technologies and the future for art making in a digital age

Alan Butler’s work explores material and philosophical ideas about the functions of imagery and meaning in technologically mediated realities. His subject often ties together the cultural dogma that underpins visual languages, with algorithmic modes of being in western capitalist societies. He received his MFA from LaSalle College of the Arts, Singapore (2009). and BA in Fine Art from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin (2004).

This will be followed by a Q+A session with Senior Programmer at the Cork Film Festival – Don O’Mahony.

Since 2010, Cork Film Festival and National Sculpture Factory have developed a unique and fruitful partnership to create a platform for artists whose work explores the interconnection between film and visual arts.

* Please note that the video is of 86 minutes’ duration and will be run on a loop. It will begin each day at 6pm and additional screenings will begin at approximately 7.26pm, 8.52pm and 10.18pm.

 Image Credits: On Exactitude in Science by Alan Butler (2017), Two-screen HD video, 5.1 audio. Artist Proof, Edition of 5 + 1 A.P., courtesy of the artist. Koyaanisqatsi (© IRE 1983, All Rights Reserved) courtesy of Godfrey Reggio and the Institute for Regional Education.