The best art shows this weekend with moving mountains and electrical magic

What’s getting the arty treatment this week?

Rock to the Top, Ciarán Taylor for South Dublin County Council In Context 4
Rock to the Top, Ciarán Taylor for South Dublin County Council In Context 4

Rock to the top: Ciarán Taylor Meeting Point: Rua Red, Tallaght Arts Centre, Dublin Aug 26 incontext4.ie – They say that faith can move mountains, but how about a bunch of people getting a rock to the top of a hill? As part of South Dublin County Council's Public Art Programme, Taylor is inviting anyone who cares to join him in recreating the mythic feat of Oisín (of Tír na n-óg fame) by taking a boulder up the top of a peak near Tallaght. In a chip off the old block-type scenario, the artist is carving bits from a granite lump for participants to bring up, until it's all gone. Mad outdoor fun or serious art event? Maybe it doesn't matter. Register to join in at rocktothetopdublinmountains@gmail.com

From Gallery of Photography, Archives in the Attic
From Gallery of Photography, Archives in the Attic

Archives in the Attic Gallery of Photography, Meeting House Sq, Temple Bar, Dublin Until Aug 27 galleryofphotography.ie – Like a love poem to all those who believe that digital snaps and smart phones are killing the old fashioned family album, welcome to The Photo Album of Ireland. The Gallery of Photography have been quietly gathering family snaps, and archiving them at photoalbumofireland.com. From weddings to picnics, sporting shots to those awkward Sunday-best snaps, it's a wonderful memory project. See a selection focussing on the Border Counties at the Gallery for Heritage Week.

Matthew Nevin, The Core Project, Kim Hyun Min - South Korea, at Rua Red
Matthew Nevin, The Core Project, Kim Hyun Min - South Korea, at Rua Red

The Core Project – Matthew Nevin Rua Red, Tallaght Arts Centre, Dublin Until Sep 23 ruared.ie – "I suppose I do things for the challenge," says Dublin-based artist and curator Matthew Nevin. Thank goodness he does, because his Core Project is brilliant. Since 2010, he's been asking people to answer a single question. By choosing someone from every sovereign state in the world to film themselves responding to the previously unseen question: "What is going to happen next?" Nevin has created an extraordinary archive of humanity. With more than 150 videos, it's by turns, uplifting, philosophical and heart-breaking.

Margaret O'Brien, This Isn't It, 2017 Neon, Super8 projection, audio, electric heater, flourescent lighting at Galway Arts Centre
Margaret O'Brien, This Isn't It, 2017 Neon, Super8 projection, audio, electric heater, flourescent lighting at Galway Arts Centre

Through a Glass Darkly: Margaret O'Brien Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick St Until Sep 9 galwayartscentre.ie – Electricity is wonderful stuff. It must have been extraordinary to be around in the late 1800s when Nikola Tesla was conducting his electrical experiments in front of rapt audiences. We're more blasé these days about the invisible power that lights up our lives, but Margaret O'Brien makes installations and sculptures to celebrate the stuff. She also investigates risk, experiment and failure. Take a chance to find out if it works for yourself.

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Nina Fischer + Maroan el Sani, Identity’s Rule of Three at MART, Rathmines
Nina Fischer + Maroan el Sani, Identity’s Rule of Three at MART, Rathmines

Freedom of Movement: Nina Fischer and Maroan el Sani Mart, 190s Rathmines Road Lwr, Dublin 6 Until September 23 mart.ie – We've all got prejudices, the trick is recognising them so that your daily behaviour doesn't take you, unpleasantly, by surprise. These are those cultural perspectives that can come back to bite us when we're faced with new situations, new people, new ways of thinking – as is increasingly the case, wherever we happen to come from. Berlin-based artists Fischer and el Sani have made a practice of looking more deeply. Check out two of their recent films, and see what you think.