The (im)material monument: a practice-based engagement with Troubles commemoration

Artistically, therefore, this project is one of creative investigations that aim to trouble the established parameters of commemorative practice and unsettle the hegemony of text-based analysis in International Relations. I do this in three ways: i) through the production of material artefacts; ii) through the insertion of reflections on the creative process as they took place; and iii) through critical and creative engagement with relevant literature.

Based on historical precedents, I set out (after Foucault) an alternative genealogy of memorial forms to show how my ideas for a Troubles memorial envisage plurality, ambiguity and immateriality. These ideas move from the personal to the local and the international. Following Derrida, a hauntological approach is taken throughout.

The research in this thesis, therefore, enacts the plurality of approach and the assemblage of methodologies that Bleiker (2001) and others have stated is necessary to bring the arts into International Relations on its own terms and according to its own logic. <br><br>Please note that this thesis includes the full text pdf as well as supplementary content. This supplementary content is titled as Appendix 1. This comprises (i) a film called The (im)material monument (ii) brochure (Naughton Gallery) (iii) image list with 35 images ((im)material monument image list).