Open 10:30–5:00, Tuesday – Saturday
Just when you thought it was all over, System Interference, which started its tour in West Cork (see https://www.westcorkartscentre.com/system-interference ) and then travelled to Wexford (see https://www.wexfordartscentre.ie/system-interference ) is about to hit Drogheda! The exhibition will open at Highlanes Gallery on Saturday 25th November.
Micheál O’Connell a.k.a. Mocksim’s practice involves ‘messing about’ with everyday functional processes and technologies. That includes the digital network and online world, but also heavier infrastructures in the landscape, the road system, windfarms, or golf courses and the old subversive sport of road bowling (played in counties Cork and Armagh). Arguably the work touches on environmental concerns but in abstruse ways, and other interpretations are possible. A range of works including printed material, sound recordings, the artist’s signature ‘simupoems’ (short moving image pieces) will be on display. There are interactive elements, and the exhibition has reach beyond the gallery walls, not least in the shape of an upturned car (see https://www.instagram.com/p/Cv9HvZCs2Fe ).
In the past, O’Connell’s work was presented in project spaces and established locations such as Matt’s Gallery and The Whitechapel, London, Lighthouse, Brighton, UK, and Crawford’s Wandesford Quay Gallery in Cork. Contra-Invention, a critically acclaimed exhibition of utilitarian photographs had been invited to Les Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie d’Arles, and was listed for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize.
System Interference runs from 25th November 2023 to 17th February 2024. Opening Times: Tuesday – Saturday, 10:30am – 5pm, Free Admission.
The opening event at 3pm on Saturday 25th November, will be a gallery conversation between Micheál O’Connell and philosopher of aesthetics John Roberts entitled Art, Misuse and Technology. That is also the title of a short book Roberts wrote to coincide with the tour (available at Highlanes Gallery for €15, and it can be ordered online https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/uillinn-west-cork-arts-centre )
