Visiting distinguished fellow Owen Boss will give a talk on his collaborative work, The Secret Space (2021 – 2022) which was recently shown in multiple spaces across Dublin, Ireland.  The work had a number of outcomes including durational performance, installation, film, text, panel discussion and guided tour. The Secret Space sits within the  context of Ireland’s Centenary Decade of Commemoration marking a century from the beginning of the Irish State. Boss’ talk will explore the themes of history, memory, the built environment, architecture, money and shame. 

Visiting distinguished fellow Owen Boss will give a talk on his collaborative work, The Secret Space (2021 – 2022) which was recently shown in multiple spaces across Dublin, Ireland.  The work had a number of outcomes including durational performance, installation, film, text, panel discussion and guided tour.  The Secret Space sits within the  context of Ireland’s Centenary Decade of Commemoration marking a century from the beginning of the Irish State.  Boss’ talk will explore the themes of history, memory, the built environment, architecture, money and shame.  

The Secret Space 

Every Family has secrets. Some families have bigger secrets. Some families have dangerous ones. State secrets. Secrets under floorboards. Secret spaces embedded in the walls. Two families have kept these secret spaces for generations. 

Visual Artist and Co-artistic director of ANU Owen Boss and Theatre Maker Genevieve Hulme-Beaman’s families have been connected for generations through the secrets and spaces generated by the double lives of their respective Great Grandfathers over a century ago. Exploring the impact and contributions that this alliance made on the newly formed Irish State, this work examined the effect living double lives had on the preceding generations.

Owen Boss (HKBU IoC Distinguished Visitor at Academy of Visual Arts, School of Creative Arts, Oct-Nov 2023) is an interdisciplinary artist that utilises installation, video and collaborative strategies in his work. The outcomes of his studio research are generally located off-site and made as large-scale, immersive, multi-room installations. In 2009 he co-founded ANU Productions and is the co-artistic director.

While at AVA, Owen will teach an intensive further studies course VART4085 Further Studies in Studio and Media Arts (Performance Studies): Transdisciplinary Collaboration.  In this artist talk, Owen will discuss his approach to collaboration by discussing a recent project The Secret Space.

Recent work with ANU include: The Wernicke’s Area (IMMA, 2022), Staging the Treaty (National Concert Hall, 2022), The Secret Space (National Archives, Ireland, 2022, Project Art Centre, 2021), The Party to End All Parties (ANU, Dublin Theatre Festival, 2020), Intersection (The Lab, 2019), Beyond These Rooms (Tate Liverpool and The National Museum of Ireland, 2019), The Anvil (Manchester International Festival, 2019), Scrapefoot (The Ark, 2019), Falling Out of Standing (Dingle Film Festival, 2019, Highlanes Gallery, 2017), These Rooms (London, 2018, Dublin 2016).