Camera at the Mart
Miriam O’ Connor
Self-Published
English
Softcover
28 pages
A selection of postcards in an envelope
160 x 230 mm
2022
In Spring 2022, Miriam O’ Connor undertook an artist residency at Roscommon Mart to produce work for a group show, ‘An Animate Land’ at Roscommon Arts Centre (RAC). Taking its title from the weekly mart reports, which traditionally chart livestock sales, trends and mart turnout, ‘Camera at the Mart’ reflects on the role an artist can play in a space conventionally reserved for the business of livestock sales. The photographs and materials produced during my residency represent observations and experiences of this space and are presented through a collection of postcards, signage, stationery, and paper works. Throughout the duration of the show, postcards were displayed at Roscommon Mart and in the Arts Centre and served as an invitation for audiences to respond to the work with their own mart experiences or farming narratives. This presentational strategy offered opportunities for exchange between two audiences, who, despite their close proximity, rarely mingle or interact.
Thematically, ‘An Animate Land’ looked at our relationships with the land and landscape, and reflects on the role agricultural processes of production and habitual farming practices play in this negotiation, exploring the role of trade and the value systems around both art and agriculture. This group show featured work by Miriam O’ Connor, Laura Fitzgerald and Marian Balfe and was curated by Naomi Draper. The show ran from May 20th to July 1st, 2022.
(Source: https://miriamoconnor.com/camera-at-the-mart/)
About the Artist
Miriam O’Connor is from Cork and was educated at Technological University, Dublin and later completed a Research Master’s at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art Design & Technology, Dublin (2011). In her practice, she draws inspiration from the sights, sounds and language of everyday life. She is curious about the multifaceted roles photography occupies in culture and the manner in which this persuasive medium permeates the way we engage with the world around us. Rather than providing answers, O’ Connor positions photography as a tool for posing questions, a playful medium that commands its own attention and analysis. Using photographs, text and printed matter, her projects have explored themes around looking and seeing; the relationship between camera and subject and the complex nature of photographic representation. Following her relocation to the family farm in recent years, O’Connor now occupies a dual role of farmer and artist, where she is interested in engaging with the elasticity of the photographic medium through everyday agricultural life.
https://miriamoconnor.com/
(Source: https://miriamoconnor.com/info/)
