Zoë’s Dublin Diary: Subaquatic Drift, Tarkovsky, Hen’s Teeth, Ciaran Lavery and More

Wednesday, 11 May – Wire Spine / Luxury Mollusc, 20:00, €5 suggested donation, Little Gem Records

Darkwave Canadian band Wire Spine – a new collaboration with Robert Katerwol of industrially leaning Weird Candle – are being supported by Dublin scrap noise subaquatic drift merchants Luxury Mollusc, in the new home to Little Gem records on Kildare Street. There’s a Facebook event here.

Thursday, 12 May – Steven Maybury: Anicca, Library Project

Steven Maybury’s Anicca project takes, as its starting point, a Pali word of inconstant meaning, often used in Buddhism in relation to the doctrine of impermanence. Taking everyday found objects, Maybury uses choreographed routine to study the cultural and artistic concerns and associated rituals of that object, to reveal unexpected beauty and our obsession with permanence and record-keeping. There’s a Facebook event here.

Friday, 13 May – Hen’s Teeth Prints: Artists in Residency Exhibition, 17:30, 62 St Alban’s Road

The Hen’s Teeth posse are hosting an exhibition of their resident artists, both international and Irish – namely Marina Esmeraldo, Maria Lax, Mason London, Rami Afifi, Sophie de Vere, One Strong Arm, Marie Varley and Studio FNT. It’ll be an evening of mixed graphic media – collage, collaborative letterpress and more – with all prints available to purchase on the night. There’s a Facebook event here.

Saturday, 14 May – Ciaran Lavery, 20:30, €12/17, Freemason’s Hall

Homebeat are launching Ciaran Lavery’s new album, Let Bad In, at the Freemason’s Hall this Saturday, with support from Carriages. Lavery’s music is infused with folksy Americana truth-telling, though he has received substantial praise for the diversity of his output. Carriages, meanwhile, comprised of Dubliners Harry Bookless and Aaron Page, look to invoke the cityscape with warm electronica and field recordings captured in parks and museums, in coastlines and at concert halls; 2016 saw the release of their new track, “Like A Child”. There’s a Facebook event here. Tickets here.

Sunday, 15 May – Andrei Rublev (1966), 15:00, €10.50, IFI

Tarkovsky casts Anatoliy Solonitsyn as Andrei Rublev, the highly esteemed painter of religious iconography. After witnessing a battle in which he becomes involved, Rublev turns away from his work and takes a vow of silence, but ultimately becomes drawn to painting once more. All 205 minutes are tightly woven with symbolic meaning, finally reaching a sublime, technicolor peak. Details here.

Monday, 16 May – Merlin James, Kerlin Gallery

Merlin James, originally Welsh and now based in Glasgow, has been producing quality work for over a decade, but has only recently been getting some well-earned recognition. In an age where painting has been largely dethroned as a medium, James has been celebrated for pushing the boundaries and exploring what it means to call oneself a painter. Incorporating wood and studio detritus (and even, in one instance, tufts of hair), James’s subject matter varies from the rural to the graphically sexual. Opening at Kerlin Thursday, his show runs until 25 June. Details here.

Tuesday, 17 May – Elaine Byrne: Whenceness, Kevin Kavanagh

Pure Codology and Rakoczy March were developed in New York City, during Elaine Byrne’s fellowship at the Whitney Independent Study Programme. Alongside 24 collected print works, Byrne has focused on episode 12 of Joyce’s Ulysses: Cyclops, and, specifically, the relationship between essence and meaning and the positioning of racial identification within Irishness. Details here.