Research for projects—realized and not—by Brian O’Connell arranged according to areas of interest or “elements.” Elemental summaries—e.g. “Element—Light, Photography, Cyanotype,” or “Element—Water, Ice, Snow”—provide general information while other post—Snow Science” or “Eclipse”—document projects and production.
These pages compile research, experimentation, and process documentation. Research pages can be accessed in two ways: chronologically and “elementally.” The elemental organization is idiosyncratic and allows for connections to be made across areas of interest. It continues the admittedly futile project begun in 2012 with Ways and Means (wayandmeans.info). Additional written material—reports, interviews, and proposals—can […]
The elemental organization is idiosyncratic and allows for connections to be made across areas of interest. It continues the admittedly futile project begun in 2012 with Ways and Means (wayandmeans.info). To see the same research categorized chronologially see: Research—Chronological. For exhibitions and completed work please refer to the Projects section of this site.
ANIMAL: Taxonomy: Elemental —> Animal animal, n. **Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Middle French animal (French animal ) living creature, beast (excluding man) (12th cent. in Old French), living creature (excluding plants) (13th cent.), stupid or uncouth person (1537) and its etymon classical Latin animal living creature (including man), living organism (including plants), animal other than man, (applied contemptuously to a person) creature, brute, […]
Turtles: Taxonomy: In 2006 Hungarian mathematicians Gábor Domokos and PĂ©ter L. Várkonyi demonstrated the possibility of “a convex three-dimensional homogeneous body which, when resting on a flat surface, has just one stable and one unstable point of equilibrium.” They named such forms Gömböc after a sweet Hungarian dumpling. Gömböc are self-righting: they will roll as if possessed before coming […]
LIGHT: Taxonomy: Elemental —> Light This is a study in time: Research associated with Light:
Color: Taxonomy: Elemental —> Light —> Color Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore […]
Color: Taxonomy: Elemental —> Light —> Color Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore […]
Color: Taxonomy: Elemental —> Light —> Optics Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore […]
Photography: Taxonomy: Elemental —> Light —> Photography (Analog) photography is the place where light’s dual nature is synthesized on the surface of a material substrate. It exists both over time and as object. On the photographic plane the moment continues (potentially) to move across time; an index of an instant and the material history of […]
Cyanotype: Taxonomy: Elemental —> Light —> Photography —> Cyanotype The 4,000-year-old process involved in producing the dark blue of indigo is almost magical. Items transforms from yellow to blue within seconds. It is not unlike the cyanotype process invented by English scientist and astronomer Sir John Herschel in 1842. The Cyanotypes Process are among the […]
Gum BiChromate: Taxonomy: Elemental —> Light —> Photography —> Gum Bichromate Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate […]
Photograms: Taxonomy: Elemental —> Light —> Photography —> Photograms Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse […]
Plant: Taxonomy: Plant—>Trees—>Wood Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. […]
Plant: Taxonomy: Plant—>Dye Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. […]
Plant: Taxonomy: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur […]
Indigo: Taxonomy: Plant —>Dye—>Indigo The following text was written in the Fall of 2010 for a blog that I have since lost all online record of (in fact I don’t remember having published it). At the time, I was preparing The Illusion of Plans at Dorsch Gallery in Miami. For more on the production of […]
Mineral: Taxonomy: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur […]
Glass: Taxonomy: Elemental —Mineral —> Glass Research and Projects associated with Glass:
Concrete: Taxonomy: Elemental —Mineral —> Concrete ConcreteA term is concrete if it possesses a referent in the external physicalworld, i.e. if it refers to a reality that can be perceived by the five senses.Concrete terms make up what is known as the figurative level ofmeaning. They are contrasted with abstract, conceptual terms to befound on […]
Spirit: Taxonomy: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur […]
WATER: Taxonomy: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur […]
Part of Avalanche Dynamics
Part of Avalanche Dynamics
Part of Avalanche Dynamics
The making of PALOMAR October
First made in collaboration with Ceramica Suro, Guadalajara, Mexico for: Everything Must Go! at Casey Kaplan, NYC (June 30 – July 30, 2011) these objects were also a part of PALOMAR at Laure Genillard Gallery, London in 2016. (Not)Turtles In 2006 Hungarian mathematicians Gábor Domokos and PĂ©ter L. Várkonyi proved the possibility of “a convex three-dimensional homogeneous body which, when resting on […]
Collaboration with Todd Bourret
D.U.M.B.O Art Space, Brooklyn, NY
2011
This page is still being written. When complete it will document the research and production of The Illusion of Plans (Dorsch Gallery, Miami, Oct-Nov 2010). This work uses the now weed-like presence of the indigo plant as its material foundation and spirals out into expeditions to locate the plants in their Florida habitat, encounters with […]
“The University of Trash”
The Sculpture Center, Queens, NY
2009
Leaded glass boxes and color photograms
Adamski Gallery, Berlin, 2007
A for Alibi, De Appel, Amsterdam, 2007
Ideal City, Invisible Cities, Zamos / Potsdam, 2006
The Central Library, KUL, Leuven, 2005
Galerie Adamski, Aachen, 2005
These are the first digital photographs I ever took. I think the camera was made by Epson, or maybe Sony. In 1998, I set off on a fin de siècle reconstruction of Walter Benjamin’s Childhood in Berlin around 1900 in the new language of pixels. I didn’t make it very far. I would again photograph […]