Abridged 0 – 90: After The Fall – David Haughey – Every Square Meter Every Hour.

Every Square Meter Every Hour is a simulation that recreates the interior of the C9TV studio on  Spencer Road in Derry. Through careful photographic documentation, digital measuring and modelling, the work fixes a transitory moment in the lifecycle of this unique building. Channel 9 was an ambitious project to broadcast local current affairs and interests. A fragmentary view of the television station’s development is available online through blogs, news and journal articles; these trace the rise and collapse of C9TV from 1996 to 2009. This work considers the promise and diminishing status of broadcast media and shifting labour conditions in the wake of new digital technologies and media environments.

“Recreating any object or event in loose or forensic detail describes a variety of failures. My hope was not to arrive at a complete representation or that the object should be internally resolved but to amplify the failure relative to the subject. My interest lies not only in the departure of Channel 9 but in televised media more broadly and the erosion of the systems necessary for its maintenance. The dilemma emerging from the conservation of materials, paintings, or photographs resides in their inevitable relationship to real estate, which carries a particular burden. The enchantment that effervesces around the perimeter of technological progress is similar to the hype cycles in other domains and disciplines. All hold the utopian promise: better conditions will follow. The simulation is infinite. Each performance is unique. Two synthetic, incorporeal voices whisper random lines  from texts, blogs and articles related to the television channel and phrases common to live-action television production.”

David Haughey (b.1979) lives and works in Belfast. His creative practice navigates and observes the conventions of painting, photography and installation and how these synthesise and extend through digital space.

This exhibition is curated by Gregory McCartney. You can see the physical exhibition at Verbal, Derry, until 31st January 2023.

Thanks to Derry City and Strabane District Council for supporting this project. Abridged is supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.