M7
16’30” looped digital video and multi-channel sound
Vocal commentary from Liam Kenny

An exhibition by Michael Holly
McKenna Gallery

In May of this year, I walked the length of the M7 Motorway, from the Naas interchange to the Rathroe roundabout outside Limerick City, weaving along the secondary roads, the country lanes, the underpasses and overpasses of this monumental and significant piece of Irish infrastructure. With me I carried a tent, a video camera, a sound recorder and a walking stick, observing the
M7 and the surrounding areas that are dominated by its presence. This video combines the conceptual art practice of psychogeography with the documentary filmmaking technique of sensory ethnography to make a video installation that aims to bring you inside the psyche of the M7 and the areas that it runs through. The video will show you how nature continues to
adapt and develop alongside and in tandem with the motorway, how human activity thrives in certain areas and is absent from others. The first section of the M7 was opened in May 1983, and so became Ireland’s first motorway. As an object it facilitates the economy and convenience of this country, while contributing to an ever-increasing sedentary lifestyle.
It takes under three hours to travel from Naas to Limerick by car on the M7, walking that distance took me seven days. My experience set me outside of the conventional mode of travel, allowing me a unique perspective on a facility that most of us use on a regular basis.

Michael Holly