Past Residents Alan Phelan
Alan Phelan (b.1968) in Ireland.
“In my practice I create a mix of literal and symbolic references, encouraging conflicting viewpoints and interpretations, in attempting to gently undermine the certainty of our cultural assumptions. This is used to engage political history, cultural theory, science fiction and sexuality – shaped through interests in narrative, trans-cultural potential, and provisional meaning. These combinations also function to question notions of authorship and practice, inverting aspects which provide consistency for both artist and audience.
While at HIAP I want to research the tunnels under Helsinki city built since the 1960s. Previously I have worked with industrial objects and spaces are used as part of an “infrastructural aesthetic” which provide a structure for additional narrative possibilities which not only encodes the materiality of the artwork but demands that the work be read from several possible positions.”