Maeve Brennan’s practice looks at the historical and political resonance of sites and materials, culminating primarily in moving image and installation works, as well as photography and sculpture. Led by a documentary approach, Brennan carries out long-term investigative research, seeking out proximity and intimacy with people and places.
In 2012, Brennan travelled to Israel and Palestine to research the ancient Islamic shrine–the Dome of the Rock–in the early 20th Century. This research resulted in a broad look at the political, historical and social significance of Jerusalem stone in Palestine, leading to a number of works–Beit Ilksa Boys (2013), Catches (2013) and Jerusalem Pink (2015).
Brennan has spent much of the past year in Glasgow and will start her investigations into the Virilio-like accident of ‘barotrauma’ (bats’ lungs exploding near wind turbines due to a localised pressure drop) occurring nearby, in relation to ideas of Gaia and the Anthropocene. Typical of her multidisciplinary investigative work, Brennan plans to work alongside people with specific expertise such as ecologists and engineers, documenting their particular forms of knowledge in order to animate inanimate objects and layered histories.