David McGovern







David is an artist and educator currently based in rural Ireland. He uses moving image to facilitate reflection and speculate on our future.


Video work
Stuckness
Workshops
Experiments
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Experiments


Making video work can be a punishing experience. Once you begin to edit you are changing what happened in the hope you can make something more compelling. You are manipulating time and reality. If it doesn’t work out, it’s hard to force yourself to export and display it next to the plethora of work that’s better than yours. But here we are.

The not-quite-right, the experiments, and the failures. 




In Defence of the Poor Image

A single, throwaway image is pushed and pulled to inspire some appreciation for non-cinematic imagery.

Title is fondly borrowed from the essay by Hito Steyerl.

Being Lost

A visual response to the feeling of being stuck, overwhelmed and completely lost. The work is based on conversations with art students at UAL, where one student described the state as ‘thickly overwhelming’. The film was the starting point for Stuckness.

The Long Grass

Unfinished work exploring the sensation of searching. When we search for a missing item, a pet or - terrifyingly - a missing person, are are showing our devotion and love in the act of searching. Many parts of searching are futile, and we often feel the task is impossible. 



Dark Scans

An experience of poor cardiac health and frequent scans. The sounds were captured on my phone over a week in ICU, making sense of the diagnosis and disorientation.