THE ARTISTS STUDIO SERIES IMMA

Artist in Residence Programme at The Irish Museum of Modern Art, 2011

(Exhibition text)

For the Process Room at The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Artist in Residence John Beattie re-fabricated his studio table and lamp into a sculptural drawing tool using wirelessly controlled technology. These items have been installed in the gallery space where Beattie created an intervention by controlling the lamp live from his studio (based on the grounds of the Museum) to produce a simple drawing onto the gallery wall, consisting of the beginning of a sentence from one of Sol Le Witt texts from ‘Paragraphs on Conceptual Art’ first published in 0-9 ( New York ), 1969 and in Art-Language ( England ), 1969.

If The Artist carries through his idea and makes it into visible form, then all the steps in the process are of importance. The idea itself, even if not made visual, is as much a work of art as any finished product. All intervening steps, scribbles, sketches, drawings, failed works, models, studies, thoughts, conversations, are of interest. Those that show the thought process of the artist are sometimes more interesting than the final product – Sol Le Witt.

Animating the installation with a performative element, this process happened via live feed monitors, multiple cameras, and sensor controls. This intervention was developed in collaboration with Dr.David McKeown, a mechanical engineer based at UCD Dublin.

The PROCESS ROOM facilitates access to the ongoing practice of artists currently resident at IMMA. The Artists’ Residency Programme is located in the studios adjacent to the main museum building where several studios are allocated to both national and international artists. The Process Room is used on a rotating basis by the artists on the ARP.

John Beattie’s installation coinsided with IMMA’s 20th year celebrations exhibition.