APE (2023-2024)

A tried-and-tested propaganda technique is to portray “the other” as vermin, both dangerous and ridiculous in order to incite people to action. This happened in 19th-century Ireland, when the English colonisers distributed pamphlets dehumanising the Irish population by depicting them as violent and “uncivilised” apes. APE is a video installation that uses Artificial intelligence to embrace the slur and generate an alternative timeline for Irish historic events for Irish independence.

Seán Hannan is an Irish-rooted Amsterdam based visual artist working across installation, video, sound, performance, and artificial intelligence. His practice explores how technological systems shape, preserve, and distort memory, mythology, and truth.