Danielle O'connor

My practice explores the fundamental essence of materials and poetic physicality; a notion I coined to describe works that are expressive and have a strong material presence. Phenomena of light explores light as a material and sees the experience of light as well as its movements as having a material quality. The videos aim to convey an embodied affect, a presence to be felt within the viewer.

As a virtual exhibition, hosted by ArtSteps, the videos become an immersive sensory experience. A collective ambience is created through the side-by-side videos that holds viewers in an aesthetic encounter of visuals. Richard Schusterman discusses an aesthetic experience as being a “..phenomenological dimension (something vividly felt and subjectively savoured, affectively absorbing us and focusing our attention on its immediate presence and thus standing out from the ordinary flow of routine experience).” The videos are reminiscent of this feeling of an encounter, those unexpected moments where you pause to be captivated and take appreciation in something as simple as light. Such moments could be considered a form of serendipity; discoveries of beauty in the little things. Perhaps these moments offer a more hopeful and leisurely perspective to a world filled with unpredictability.

Link to virtual exhibition https://www.artsteps.com/view/616797faab0a36bd4ccc363e