Gary O'Connor

Gary O'Connor mixes fiction with reality to create a varied practice that includes writing, installation, sound, video, and sculpture. 'Historical facts have always intrigued me', he says 'and at the end of the day, these are best told as stories. With time, facts can be subjected to the same treatment as fiction: they become myth and legend … a place of untruths, uncertainties and contradictions ... the space between reality, and the imaginary.'

Experiencing O'Connor's work is a sensory activity that transports the viewer to a completely different place and time, and often leaves them with more questions than answers. In the group show
The Wrong Map at Three Colts Gallery in 2005 his sound installation seemed to reference the building the gallery was in whilst a monitor showed an empty room. On further inspection the monitor was linked to a CCTV camera in a Weetabix packet transforming this mundanity into a mini magical world, self-contained and confusing.

The starting point for each of O'Connor's artworks is often a real experience or event, such as being stuck in the lift in Regent Studios in Hackney or his parents strolling through Victoria Park on their first date. This is then spun out using both historical and imaginary references to create a final piece of work that is both familiar and unsettling. His developing narratives are often filtered through a Situationist viewpoint resulting in a quasi-imaginary, topographical installation.

Other recent work includes the Rock Against Racism inspired 'Little Giant', that will culminate in a compilation of soundtracks and memories on a downloadable pod cast, and 'Radio Sunshine', a sound piece that mimicked a mid twentieth-century radio broadcast featuring seaside inspired poetry and a faux talk show excerpt.

An important factor in the development of O'Connor's practice has been the 2006 completion of the innovative MA course 'Writing the Visual' developed by the poet George Szirtes at Norwich School of Art and Design. O'Connor's writing is now featured in numerous publications such as the compilation of artist short stories, The Alpine Fantasy of Victor B as well as accompanying his gallery installations.

Cathy Lomax 2007