Pensive Spectator

Last night, I  was at the opening of Laura O’Connor’s exhibition, The Pensive Spectator, which is on at 61 College St, Cavan for this weekend only. It is definitely worth a visit. One exhibit, which has pride of place, is a video installation, created during Culture Night 2012 in Belfast. In this particular piece we watch 16 faces, in a grid, staring directly at the camera. It is so strange to be able to stare at these people with such candour with no fear of them coming back at you. They twitch, fidget (though I can’t describe exactly how they do that with no hand movement), and it is slightly eerie to see find oneself making judgments and ascribing personality traits to these faces after staring at them for a while. The movement and life in the 16 faces is amazing. 

It is an interesting exhibition, thought provoking. All are video installations based on watching figures sitting, or lying in stylised backgrounds or setting.

Laura is a Belfast artist from Killeshandra, Cavan.

Non Parade

Also, as one of the dancers in the Non Parade Parade, I just wanted to respond to Geoff O’Keefe’s great review of the Non Parade Parade put on in Cavan by the Trans Art Team. I am so glad he liked it. I hope everyone did. It was great to be a part of an event that was beautiful, engaging, surprising and that encouraged Cavan people to take part. We were all volunteers, and loved being a part of something so creative – dancers, artists, gophers alike. I think participation and the reflection of our daily movement and activity were the themes behind it. Well, that’s what I got from it but I was not the brains behind the project: that was Jesse Keenan, Sally O’Dowd and Siobhan Harton. Congratulations to them all.