ÚNA QUIGLEY . Birds Of My Weakness

Digital 16mm and Super8 / 8"40' / 2018

This work is based on Act 1 of "The Mammaries of Tiresias", a play written by Guillaume Apollinaire in 1903 and first performed in 1917. Apollinaire coined the term surrealist to describe his drama and the first words of his play were "I am a feminist". It is about a housewife who develops psychic powers to change her body.
"Birds of my weakness" - a phrase Apollinaire used to describe female breasts -, re- imagines Apollinaire's character in a contemporary context and uses the influences of poststructural feminist writers on a rewriting of the dialogue. Choreographed by dancer Sheena McGrandles in response to the text, it is a chamber piece and an absurd melodrama.

Úna can be contacted to request the password to view the full work at this email: uquigley@yahoo.com (Be sure to mention END)

Born in Dublin, Úna Quigley graduated from Crawford College of Art Cork and Winchester School of Art, Spain and U.K. in 2001 with an MA in European Fine Art. She has since exhibited widely such as at the Kassel Film Festival, the Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, Centrum Berlin, Glucksman Gallery Ireland, and Crawford Gallery Ireland. In 2015 she co-created a temporary cinema in the wilderness of Connemara entitled Wildscreen/Scáil-Fhiáin. Recent group exhibitions since 2019 have included the Istanbul International Experimental film festival, a solo screening at The Guesthouse, Cork, and international group exhibitions such as Traverse Rencontres Video, Toulouse, France, VAFT, Turku, Finland, Rucklicht, Kino Central Berlin, and Tulca - Tactical Magic, curated by Kerry Guinan, various venues, Galway, Irl. In 2020 she has screened work in SSA/Cutlog international artist's moving image exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Contemporary Art Ruhr, Zollverein, Essen, Germany, This Moment: Women make films, a screening for international Women's day at Blackrock Library, Dublin. and Photophobia, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario. Forthcoming exhibitions include "1,2,3,4: Dance in contemporary artists' films at the Glucksman Gallery, Cork, Ireland Aug - Dec 2020.