'And death shall have no opinion' is documentation of an experiment that took place in Dublin in April of 2008. This work explores concepts within contemporary popular belief such as 'parallel universes', 'reincarnation' and Jung's 'universal unconscious'. The process begins with the hypnosis and regression of the subject to a former life in the 1500's. A narrative is constructed through the ongoing dialogue between the (off screen) Regressive Therapist and subject. The individuals, places and situations are described in detail. The video begins with the death of the subject in a former life, the Regressive Therapist then removes Murnaghan from this past existence and suspends him in the ether between lives, he then 'progresses' him far into the future to see if an existence can be ascertained. This is where the experiment moves further into unexplored metaphysical / psychological terrain, whilst presenting poignant and curious examples of how the lens is capable of carrying with it the ideological concerns of a time.

As a consequence of the intellectual marginalisation of various areas of enquiry that command much public interest, the artistic sphere is one obvious area where claims of 'pseudoscience' can be explored (in addition to TV and the tabloid press). The most interesting - indeed riveting - entry in the show was Paul Murnaghan's hypnosis induced regression (or rather progression) into the future, punningly entitled - with reference to a poem by Dylan Thomas - And Death Shall Have No Opinion. If past life regression is possible, the reasoning goes, then why not try to get a view of a future reincarnation? Murnaghan gives us a glimpse into a putative dystopian world (shades of THX 1138) where his future (female) self works as a data-controller in an artificial environment hermetically sealed from the 'real' world outside. Exactly what may have happened - whether war or environmental degradation - to bring things to such a pass we are not told, but the accompanying message from the future (we shouldn't be so self-centred etc) is a spersuasive as it is hackneyed. Whether the piece actually does give us a glimpse of a future dystopia (or perhaps from a rationalist perspective, of certain fears laid down in the collective unconscious), it is chillingly plausible - not least in the conformist lack of interest displayed by Murnaghan's future 'reincarnation' in the political and geographical conditions of her life.

Extract from an article by Paul O'Brien Circa 126 Winter 2008 - full review available below.

Digital Video Still from work titled: ‘And death shall have no opinion' 2008 . © Artist - Paul Murnaghan
Metro story September 2008.

Click on image to read ' A casual conversation over a bowl of soup while watching...And Death Shall Have No Opinion...'
Slavek Kwi and Paul Murnaghan in conversation from the exhibition catalogue.

Click here for a two minute extract from video.

Regressive Therapist : Keith Kavanagh
Camera and witness: Sven Anderson
Hypnotised subject: Paul Murnaghan

Exhibition:
Ulrika Ferm [Fin], Martin Healy [Irl], Seán Hillen [Irl], Paul Murnaghan [Irl], Lee Welch [US], a television interview between JZ Knight and Merv Griffin [Courtesy of Merv Griffin Entertainment US], Wright and Griffiths [UK].

September Screenings:
Sean Lynch - Latoon 2007 [Ireland], Susan MacWilliam – Explaining Magic to Mercer 2005 [representing Northern Ireland at Venice Biennale in 2009], Diego Guiterrez - The Carriage 2007 [Mexico/Netherlands]