I am an interdisciplinary artist based between Tipperary and Limerick working across Music, Sound Design, and Audio-Visual Installation. Drawing on a rural childhood shaped by analogue media and inspired by the concerning rise of Neo-Fascism globally, my practice explores how technology, collective memory and the weaponisation of nostalgia influences our understanding of the past. While ‘fake news’ is not a new concept, the modern digital landscape has allowed certain governments and political agitators to use fake news to create the concept of something I call a ‘fake past’. It is through this ‘fake past’ that these actors can promote an idealised portrayal of the past, where everyone was in their ‘right place’, and it often ignores the very real political and societal problems that many experienced. The creation of this ‘fake past’ is important as it allows its creator to mislead their audience and benefit politically and monetarily while also directing their audiences anger towards either political enemies, or those deemed as a ‘problem’ or ‘inferior’ to their cause. 'Fake Past' encourages you to sit and reflect on how narratives of the past are consumed and manipulated, and how the sense of nostalgia, when combined with modern technology, can become a powerful and persuasive force. By emphasising the physical presence of the medium, this work asks the audience to become active participants rather than passive receivers, and to consider how a ‘fake past’ can quietly take hold when its distortions are repeated often enough to feel familiar.
