Loving the Work of >> Morgan O'Hara

I just discovered the work of Morgan O'Hara, and I'm obsessed.  She documents hand movements, what she calls "Live Transmissions," of people engaged in activities like playing an instrument, cooking, lecturing, etc.

Above:

Movement of the hands of
Chef's assistant Jojo Sullamoff
while peeling a cucumber
Yatagan Kebab House, New York City
2 November 1995

I think it's fascinating that her artistic process is often a documentation of someone else's artistic process.  Also, I guess one reason I am drawn to her work is my love of maps, as her process is essentially a mapping process.

Movement of the hands of
pianist Martha Argerich
while performing the first movement allegro con brio of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4
Carnegie Hall, New York City
28 October 2001

Above:
Movement of the hands of
Conductor Riccardo Chailly
while conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Mahler's Symphony No 4.
first movement
Carnegie Hall, New York City
10 February 2000

It's interesting when two people doing the same activity are compared-- above and below, two conductors conducting two different pieces -- are they different because of the piece of music, or because of their personal style of conducting?

Movement of the hands of
Composer Pierre Boulez
while conducting the London Symphony Orchestra
in Stravinsky's Petrouchka /
Carnegie Hall, New York City
13 March 2000

 Apparently, conducting and lecturing require similar hand movements...

Movement of the hands of
Dr. S. J. Schmidt while lecturing
Glarus, Switzerland
7 March 1999

Her working process-- multiple pens in each hand.


THEN, I discovered her installations -- blown up abstractions of the drawings.  SO COOL.

Galleria O'artoteca
Milano, Italia
left Aki Takahashi on piano
right: Quentin Crisp lecturing
flat black acrylic on white wall

Macau Museum of Art
Live Transmission: Kung Fu battle
flat black acrylic on white wall
black and vermillion calligraphy ink on rice paper

Aomori Contemporary Art Center Aomori, Japan
flat black acrylic on white wall
Left: Amiri Bakara reading his poetry
Right: Ishioka Toyomi carving cedar

Aomori Contemporary Art Center Aomori, Japan
wall drawing: hand movement of 3 Taiko drummers performing

Teatro Sociale di Bergamo,
Italia


I don't know what this one is of, but I like that she took it to sculpture too... I think if she continues to get less and less literal, these are going to keep getting more interesting.



I think if she keeps doing this, it could be really interesting to see comparisons of hand movements between cultures.  Would lecturers in one country be more emphatic with their hands than another?  Would musical styles require very different hand movements?

Morgan O'Hara website here.