Mirror Pavilion was commissioned by Galway International Arts Festival for Galway’s European Capital of Culture 2020.
The Pavilion is a beautiful and striking structure, with three sides and the roof clad in a highly reflective mirror and the fourth wall a high–resolution LED wall. This structure will host two new artworks Corn Work and Leaf Work which will unfold on the LED screen presented in two locations; Corn Work at the historic Claddagh Quay in Galway City and Leaf Work at the spectacular 4,000–year–old Derrigimlagh Bog in Connemara. The works reflect and respond to the landscape of both locations.
Powered by sustainable energy sources, Mirror Pavilion is a response to the escalating climate crisis and fearlessly pushes the boundaries of digital art using simulation. Gerrard has taken digital technology, usually employed by the commercial gaming industry, to create virtual worlds that simulate extremely detailed and authentic landscapes. The characters and landscapes we see on the LED screen may look like video or film but they are not; they hover in what the artist describes as the ’slippery space’ between the realistic and the unreal. These two astonishingly real virtual worlds are meticulously constructed by digital means by the artist, a team of modellers, and programmers. This world unveiling will be a dazzling moment on the Irish landscape.
When & Where
Corn Work | Claddagh Quay, Galway
3–26 September 2020
Leaf Work | Derrigimlagh Bog, Connemara
28 August - 18 September 2021
