Kovács Tamás

Photography MA
thesis
Conceptual Art as a Language That Reflects on Conflict and Segregation: The Subjective Experience of Segregation in Northern Ireland
Visual culture plays a major role in the formation of different and often conflicting identities in Northern Ireland. The dissertation places my master project, which is inspired by the tension that has been inherited over generations and is still palpable to this day in a historical and artistic context. I deal with the emergence of the Northern Irish armed conflict, the “Troubles,” that began in the late 1960s, its afterlife, and the current relationship between opposing ethnic communities. Although the armed conflict officially ended in 1998, there is still a complex, tense relationship between the communities of different identities that underpin my master project. In the second half of my dissertation, I examine contemporary, mostly conceptual artists, whose work or a certain element of it is closely related to my work.
masterwork
The 8th Letter of the Alphabet
The 8th Letter of the Alphabet deals with the relationship between two ethnic groups whose coexistence has been characterized by constant challenges and tension for decades, due to perceived or real injustices and grievances. One side is to complain that in his homeland he has to live outside the borders of his own country and fight to preserve his own identity. At the same time, the other community rightly clings to the area they have lived in for centuries and generations. Land, territory, and colours are crucial in the construction of identity in Northern Ireland. The Northern Irish people are distinctly aware of the territories that surround them and the markers and symbols that define those boundaries. What happens when all these very definitive symbols are placed into a space where their color becomes uncertain? Although the armed conflict officially ended with the Good Friday Agreement and many points in the peace process have been realized, there are still intergenerational tensions and mistrust between the two divided communities.
supervisor
Szalontai Ábel
consultant
Illés Anikó
masterwork consultant
Gaál Mariann