Live transmission / Morgan O´Hara

Foto tomada por Maria Joao Caetano, Macau, China 2009

Morgan O´Hara (City of the Angels, USA)
 
   LIVE TRANSMISSION: ATTENTION AND DRAWING
   AS TIME-BASED PERFORMANCE

LIVE TRANSMISSION drawings track, in real time, the vital movement of living beings, transcending both figuration and abstraction, executing a direct neural translation from one human action into another. Drawing methodically with multiple razor-sharp pencils and both hands, as time-based performance, O'Hara condenses movement into accumulations of graphite line which combine the controlled refinement of classical drawing with the unbound sensuality of spontaneous gesture. Time-space coordinates for each drawing are described with the most unexpected precision in the titles.

Her work has been shown in:

USA
NEW YORK The New Museum, The Drawing Center, Gracie Mansion Gallery, Experimental Intermedia Foundation, Kentler International Drawing Space; CALIFORNIA San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, New Langton Arts, San Francisco Art Institute, The Exploratorium, Kala Institute; PHILADELPHIA Nexus and White Box Galleries.

SOUTH AMERICA
CHILE Mapuche Collective Santiago, MAC,Valdivia ARGENTINA Galeria Zonadearte, Quilmes.

WESTERN EUROPE
AUSTRIA Forum Stadtpark, Schwarzenberg'sche Meierei, BELGIUM Logos, Brussels Art Akademie, GERMANY Galleries Rainer Borgemeister, Petersen, Moltkerei Werkstatt, Waschhaus, ITALY Milano Poesia, La Maddalena, Teatro Sociale di Bergamo, Galleria Civica di Modena, Castello Borromeo,THE NETHERLANDS Stedelijk Museum, De Fabriek, Apollohuis, Galerie Singel, Galerie Phoebus, Galerie Salon, SWITZERLAND Kunsthalle Bern, Musee Cantonal des Beaux Arts, Lausanne.

EASTERN EUROPE
CZECH REPUBLIC Dum Umeni Brno, Galeria Muzeum Sumperk, Galerie Sypka, Galerie Klatovy-Klenova, Galerie Caesar, HUNGARY Studio Vajda Lajos, Iparmuveszeti Museum, Folyamat Galerie, POLAND Galeria Wschodnia, Galeria Dziekanka, Galeria Piwna, Inner Spaces, SLOVAKIA Museum of Modern Art of the Warhol Family, Galeria ARTdeco, Galeria K-47

ASIA
JAPAN Aomori Contemporary Art Center, NIPAF Nippon Interntional Performance Art Festival,, Gallery 360*, Belca House; HONG KONG Parasite Gallery, The Fringe Club; MACAU Museu de Arte de Macau, Old Ladies’ House Art Space; KOREA KIPAF Korea International Performance Art Festival TAIWAN TIPAF Taiwan International Performance Art Festival, CHINA Beijing DaDao International Performance Art Festival

AUSTRALIA
University of New South Wales, Sydney.

O'Hara lives and works in New York and Italia.


 

Live transmission

-dossier inédito acerca del trabajo reciente de la autora-

LIVE TRANSMISSION 

1989 - ongoing

In 1989 I began LIVE TRANSMISSION: attention and drawing as time-based performance. LIVE TRANSMISSIONS render visible normally invisible or fleeting movement patterns, through seismograph-like drawing. LIVE TRANSMISSIONS track, in real time, the vital movement of living beings, transcending both figuration and abstraction, executing a direct neural translation from one human action into another. Drawing methodically with multiple razor-sharp pencils and both hands, as time-based performance, I condense movement into accumulations of graphite line which combine the controlled refinement of classical drawing with the sensuality of spontaneous gesture. Time-space coordinates for each drawing are described with precision in the titles which are written across the bottom edge of the page. The pursuit of vitality is thus carefully observed through human activity. The theoretical base for the work - visual transmission of the principle of vitality - evolved slowly over time; the archival nature of the work as well. In 2009 there exist approximately 3000 LIVE TRANSMISSION drawings done both privately and publicly on five continents. LIVE TRANSMISSIONS communicate beyond the specificity of language. These drawings have been exhibited on five continents. I am in the process of creating a database to both keep track of the drawings and to make them available for research.

Live Transmission Performances

South China Sea
photo: Lo Hou Chi 2009



octopus Japan
photo: Yamamoto Tadasu 2003



with Anthony Braxton in New York
photo: Rozanne Levine 1998



reflecting pool Japan
photo Shii Kei 2003

Live Transmission Works/Details

LIVE TRANSMISSION: movement of the hands of soba master KASHIWAGI KUNIAKI while preparing soba flour and cutting noodles / LIVE TRANSMISSION performance with O'Hara / The Japan Society / New York City / 12 March 2001.






LIVE TRANSMISSION: movement of the hands of pianist MARTHA ARGERICH performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat / Carnegie Hall / New York City / 3 March 2007.






LIVE TRANSMISSION: movement of OKINAWA RINKEN BAND performing the rowing song Sabani / The Japan Society / New York City / 10 April 2002.






LIVE TRANSMISSION: movement of the hands of SENATOR BARACK OBAMA while giving his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. 2008. Drawn from a satellite television broadcast in Porto, Portugal at 3am. Inaugural address hand movement is much more compact.






Hands of Morgan O'Hara at work.
The photo by YAMAMOTO TADASU was taken during the artist's residency at the Aomori Contemporary Art Center, Aomori, Japan in 2003._D