26 April – 5 May

Long Room

SIT STAND SMOKE is a short Virtual Reality (VR) experience that explores some of the motivations and circumstances that led to the creation of the painting Men of the South (1921-22) by Seán Keating. As the Irish War of Independence drew to a close, it reveals the artist’s feelings and misgivings about some of the choices made by the new Irish State that followed.

Funny, provocative, and poignant, SIT STAND SMOKE takes the viewer into the unexpected world of Dr Éimear O’Connor, art historian, biographer, and – in this narrative – a newly initiated VR director casting actors for her first VR project. Although full of challenges, VR does afford Éimear the opportunity to have a conversation with Seán Keating, played by his great-grandson, Jonathan Quinlan.

Created by CURTIN // KEATING (co-artists Linda Curtin and David Keating, the latter being the grandson of the painter), SIT STAND SMOKE marks a century to the month since the purchase of Men of the South for the Collection, by the Gibson Bequest Committee, in April 1924.

This VR experience features characters based on volunteers who appear in the painting – Jim Riordan, Denis O’Mullane, Jim Cashman, John Jones, Roger Kiely, and Dan Browne – all of whom were members of the Cork No.2 Brigade of the Irish Republican Army and came mainly from the Newmarket and Kiskeam area of County Cork. 

Click here to pre-book your 30-minute SIT STAND SMOKE experience through Eventbrite.

Warning: This VR experience may not be suitable for individuals with photosensitive epilepsy or light sensitivity. Viewer discretion is advised. Recommended for ages 14+.

Commissioned by Crawford Art Gallery as part of BUILDING AS WITNESS, supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries Programme 2012 - 2023.

With additional support from Screen Ireland, Animation Ireland Innovation & Immersive Development Fund, Ballymore, BT Business, Cork Film Centre, and Immersive Ireland.

Sit Stand Smoke (left to right, Adam Duggan, Al Draper, Danny Horgan) Photo: Tadgh Richardson

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