Spaced Out | May 2010 | Dublin 1

In May 2010, PrettyvacanT Dublin launched its Spaced Out exhibition.

With Spaced Out, we really wanted the public to able to get up close and personal with the artwork. So, after negotiating with the ILAC shopping centre in Dublin, we went on to transform the huge vacant space left by the old Dunnes store into a PrettyvacanT Dublin exhibition.

There was a problem, however:  we had inherited a vast empty space with nothing in it. In particular, no walls to hang the art.  So we set about reclaiming and salvaging materials from the crumbling store: shelving, wood panelling, nuts, bolts, hooks. Truly, we recycled the building.

Taking its inspiration from its location, we wanted the Spaced Out exhibition to reflect concepts of space, boundaries, zones and environments. And in the same way an experience can be captured within the space defined by art - inside a picture frame, within brush strokes, frozen on a monitor – we wanted our artists to respond to the vast space of the unit, whilst commenting on the wider issue of vacant space in Dublin and beyond.

Spaced Out united thirteen artists who looked at notions of space via their own chosen medium, including painting, photography, installations and video projections.

The artists were:

Olive Barrett | Caroline Doolin | AJ Doyle | Louise Farrelly | Gillian Fitzpatrick | Fionnuala Hanahoe | Frances Hayes | Niamh Heery | Emer Lynch | Denise McCabe | Lesley-Ann O’Connell | William O’Neill | Claire Weir

Over its successful four week run, the show attracted 1,200 visitors including an official visit from the Mayor of Dublin

We were supported by ILAC Centre Dublin, Oxfam Home, Francis Street and Visual Artists Ireland

Spaced Out was featured in The Irish Independent Weekend magazine, on Phantom FM and in Le Cool Dublin.