In The Open | Martina O’Brien

Martina O’Brien holds an MA in Visual Art Practice at the Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dun Laoghaire, 2014, having previously studied at undergraduate level at both Dun Laoghaire College of Art and Design and the National College of Art and Design. She works with various media including drawing, painting, video and installation in investigating anthropogenic themes in relation to climate and physical and social geographies. She has participated in several exhibitions and residencies throughout Ireland and abroad including The Irish Centre for High End Computing 2016, TULCA 2016, Draiocht, Dublin, 2015, The Royal Ulster Academy 2014, CPPCC Museum, Beijing 2014 and The LAB, Dublin 2013. Martina has received awards from institutions such as The Arts Council and Kildare County Council and her work has been purchased by The OPW and An Bord Altranais alongside being included in many private collections.

Peripheries combines metaphorical terms surrounding data with projected extreme weather events. The video opens with forty-one significant projected storms predicted to affect Ireland in the years 2040 through 2060, and then goes on to underpin the geographical schedule of events associated with six separate projected storms. The projections used within the work are based on the output of an ensemble of high-resolution climate models and simulate changes in the atmosphere and ocean as greenhouse gases such as CO2 increase and are expressed in terms of GPS datasets. In this manner, the work enquires into contemporary concerns about the long-term futures of our making and simultaneously, looks at society’s ability to move with high precision in time through advancements in technological aids, which are also predictive of their own eventual obsolescence. Kindly supported by an Arts Council Project Award, 2017.