Every Movement Does Have a Background, But Every Background is Potentially Useless

Boru O’Brien O’Connell came to EMPAC to shoot and edit this two-channel video installation in preparation for a solo exhibition at The Kitchen. Taking the work of industrial designer and illustrator John Vassos as the starting point, production involved a complex video shoot utilizing slow overhead tracking shots of desks, cameras, and microphones in a black and white set. O’Connell’s work, including moving image, photography, and writing, focuses on the act of reading and writing, speech and movement. Each work comes out of extensive research into a literary or historical artifact, from which he abstracts formal archetypes, be they sonorous, aesthetic, or behavioral.

Boru O’Brien O’Connell is based in New York City. He uses video, film, photography, writing, and sculpture to work within a wide range of venues, media, and collaboration. Projects include an installation for Works Sited, a program at the Los Angeles Central Public Library.