NCAD Conversation #17

In Conversation 2013/14

www.ncad.ie

Cian O’Sullivan Fourth Year Fine Art Sculpture

Fourth Year Fine Art Sculpture Conversation: Cian O’Sullivan

I think everything’s been blowing around Zen for a while. I think there are these moments that happen to everyone where maybe for a second, things come into focus or from some mundane task or something, you get a moment of clarity, you see everything as it is. I’m trying to set up situations where people get those Cian on moments

moments and where they happen naturally.

So a lot of it’s about celebrating the now and making people realise they’re in the present. There’s no set way of doing it, it’s more about finding the best way for these moments to happen for people, in whatever space that they have to happen.

is happening. The thing is if you’re brought to an exhibition, you think everything has some sort of meaning.

So let people look at people sneezing and tell them it’s really, really good, not because it’s not good, because it is, people just don’t think it is.

On research

A lot of my research has come from doing my thesis on Zen and studying eastern philosophy. It’s about being The basic premise is that I’ve set up constantly in the moment and not liva camera in front of the Box that ing in the past or the future. I always looks directly across from the Box thought that was very important.

(The Box is a portacabin located in

red square in NCAD, it’s painted white Wolfgang Laib does very nice work and set up inside like a living room). where he collects pollen; he goes on The camera’s pretty much looking long walks from his house and colout where the window would be, at lects pollen in jars. He collects masses what you would see from inside the of pollen, and then spreads them out window. The camera records certain in a gallery space in a big square or situations that happen that I set up in shape. front of it.

My dad always said that the lay perThe thing is you go inside the box son has to understand it, that you and it feels like you’re looking out gotta make work that anyone can a window and then maybe you just relate to. We have a neighbour who think, I’m missing all this stuff out- goes up and down the lane, he’s a side, but none of it’s actually hapfarmer. Dad always said, you know, if pening, and it doesn’t matter if it was he wants to come to your exhibition, happening or is happening, you’re he’s got to know what’s going on with missing it anyway. Then there are it, you can’t leave him out, kind of some other things thrown in, there thing. I have always thought of him as might be a conversation, there might being the kind of person who doesn’t be ten people having a conversacare about art and it doesn’t bother tion, ten different conversations and him, but he doesn’t necessarily have you hear one of them inside the Box a bad opinion about it, it’s just, he’s maybe being played out loud, bedoing his own thing and I suppose cause it’s been recorded, and you’re likewise, I’m doing my thing. left figuring out, which conversation On the box

On influences

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Student interviews by Bob Gray with Matthew Thompson Designed by Red&Grey www.redandgrey.ie Photography by Matthew Thompson www.matthewthompsonphotography.com

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