Project
Arts Council Commissions: Systems Interference (2020-2022)
Work supported by a Commissions Award (The Arts Council Ireland, An Chomhairle Ealaíon), generated though a series of intensive residencies, was initially exhibited at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre from September to October 2022. Touring and Dissemination funding meant that '
System Interference' travelled to Wexford Arts Centre, August to October 2023, and finally Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda November 2023 to February 2024. 'The collection was mainly a mashup of three elements relating to aspects of the contemporary landscape: the increasing presence of wind farms, the road system with its traffic flows which have crept up over a century, and observations on leisure and ball-games, specifically golf and the unusual sport of road bowling. Substantial sculptural pieces included an arrangement of the typical pipes used for sewage, electricity, water etc. which are embedded underneath roads, an upturned car, large inflatable wind turbine models. and a toy wind farm comprised of 50 battery-powered miniature turbines.
A number of works arose out of the thought experiment that golf courses could be converted into wind farms, and the game adjusted to suit (title: Turbogolf). For some years before O'Connell had been posting proposals for this new game on TripAdvisor (in place of reviews) together with mockup images. In many cases the proposals remained for golf resorts in Ireland and beyond, including Trump International in Dubai, and a resort found in what was once part of the Amazon rain forest.
Part of the work in Skibbereen was to interrogate the Uillinn building itself and area around, via a series of exercises in order to find ready-made work and include site-specific elements. Arguably, there was a serious dimension to the work in terms of environmental concerns, the democracy or lack of it in decision making, what is given priority and what is not. A number of other works, printed material, sound recordings and O'Connell's signature "simupoems" - short moving image pieces which play in loop mode - as well as interactive elements and ways in which the exhibition, through planned events, had reach beyond the institution.' Philosopher of aesthetics John Roberts, wrote a book which riffs off the work: Art, Misuse and Technology: Micheál O'Connell's 'System Interference'.
