Gareth McConnell | Artist Reasearch
Gareth McConnell was born in Nothern, Ireland, and he came to England for his further education. He studied at West Surrey College of Art and Design, the Royal College of Art, where he graduated in 1999 (Gareth McConnell | SHOWstudio, no date).
In his work, he disassembles his images. He reassembles them with newly discovered imagery, which he said was due to the high costs of printing and printed poor quality images with his home printer. In a Times interview, he states, “the portraits came out all lined and faded, and I realised they said more than the original photograph, so I further manipulated them, by running them repeatedly through the photocopier” (Radical Freedom: Gareth McConnell, From Belfast to Ibiza, 2014). His technique of repeatedly photocopying his images until they do not resemble the original could be a visual metaphor for how trauma wears down on an individual’s soul and psyche until they are unrecognisable compared to the person they were before life’s horrors shown through faded and creased features in his images.
In his work, he disassembles his images. He reassembles them with newly discovered imagery, which he said was due to the high costs of printing and printed poor quality images with his home printer. In a Times interview, he states, “the portraits came out all lined and faded, and I realised they said more than the original photograph, so I further manipulated them, by running them repeatedly through the photocopier” (Radical Freedom: Gareth McConnell, From Belfast to Ibiza, 2014). His technique of repeatedly photocopying his images until they do not resemble the original could be a visual metaphor for how trauma wears down on an individual’s soul and psyche until they are unrecognisable compared to the person they were before life’s horrors shown through faded and creased features in his images.
His layered constructed images remind me of Frank Hurley’s composite images. He would create a war scenario from at least five negatives to create a newly constructed photograph (Age of the Image – Series 1: 1. A New Reality, 2 Mar 2020). However, those are the only similarities I can visually see; McConnell, in his work, is more concerned with creating the aesthetic of a psychedelic experience rather than a deeper sociological meaning of the image. His use of an oversaturated colour palette he uses throughout most of his work intrigues me, with its psychedelic vibrancy, clearly inspired by his days as a raver when he regularly consumed ecstasy. Unfortunately, I find it hard to relate to his images on an emotional level, which is my intention for images, to empathise with my mother during an intense and disparaging period of her life and have the viewer empathise with the trauma both me and my mother been through due to uncontrollable circumstances.
Hurley’s intention of constructing a false image is to serve the audience a particular emotion and experience that comes when witnessing war first-hand rather than presenting the reality of the situation as it would never come close to illustrating the trauma that scars one’s soul witnessing senseless brutalism and inhumanity that is inevitable with war. However, due to the era and technology available at the time, the images are monochromatic, which is something I dislike in this particular instance as I want to capture the corybantic euphoria of hopefully witnessing a flicker of hope while amid a horrifying period time, an experience my mother writes about in her short story, ‘The Locked Door.’
In my next set of images, I want to explore the false and constructed photographs as the paradise my mother describes in her work is her place of safety that does exist in reality. Still, it is a fantasised version where her problems will melt away when she finally is there—using McConnell’s aesthetic to visualise the atmosphere of fantasy and whimsical of ultimately being in her paradise with me without any threat of separation and further trauma in the future.
Bibliography:
Age of the Image – Series 1: 1. A New Reality (no date). Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000fzm9/age-of-the-image-series-1-1-a-new-reality (Accessed: 22 March 2021).
Ecstasy | FRANK (no date). Available at: https://www.talktofrank.com/drug/ecstasy (Accessed: 22 March 2021).
Gareth McConnell (no date). Available at: https://garethmcconnell.com/ (Accessed: 22 March 2021).
Gareth McConnell | SHOWstudio (no date). Available at: https://www.showstudio.com/contributors/gareth_mcconnell (Accessed: 22 March 2021).
Gareth McConnell Biography – Gareth McConnell on artnet (no date). Available at: http://www.artnet.com/artists/gareth-mcconnell/biography (Accessed: 22 March 2021).
Radical Freedom: Gareth McConnell, From Belfast to Ibiza (2014) Time. Available at: https://time.com/3808668/gareth-mcconnell-belfast-ibiza/ (Accessed: 22 March 2021).
