#04 IN/OUT ISO | Mel O'Callaghan

Mel O'Callaghan's Sea Mount (2020) was filmed in the Eastern Pacific where she undertook a three-week expedition on the Research Vessel Atlantis - the same trip from which her recent major exhibition Centre of the Centre derives. From the trusty submersible HOV Alvin, Sea Mount captures a descent through the sea’s five layers - zones that extend from the surface to the most extreme of largely unexplored depths - in an epic journey of genesis and regeneration.

O’Callaghan’s works often explore human behaviour and psychology in relation to notions of resistance, endurance and transformation. Her works depict the human body pushed to its limits, such as Ensemble, where a single performer stands in a field struggling against the force of a high-pressure water cannon and ultimately wins. Here and in much of her work, the human body is a site of agency and resilience through which to investigate individual and collective freedom.

In-conversation with Mel O'Callaghan available via Apple Podcasts here or Vimeo below.

12

EXHIBITION INFO

MEL O’CALLAGHAN
Sea Mount
2020
single channel 4K colour video, 16:9, sound
1 hour 28 minutes
Edition of 3 + 1AP

Sea Mount descends through the five layers in the sea. These layers, known as "zones", extend backwards from the surface to the most extreme depths where light can no longer penetrate. These deep zones are largely unexplored, the temperature drops and the pressure increases. Moving through multiple thresholds the film captures phases of genesis and regeneration.

The work was filmed during a three-week expedition in the eastern Pacific on the Research Vessel Atlantis from the submersible HOV Alvin, with the support of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and US National Science Foundation. Captured on AT4206 onboard the R/V Atlantis in December 2018: D. Fornari, WHOI/NSF/HOV Alvin, 2018, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Courtesy of the artist and Kronenberg Mais Wright, Sydney.

melocallaghan.com
@mel_ocallaghan

ABOUT THE ARTIST

O'Callaghan lives and works between Sydney and Paris. She has recently presented major commissions such as Centre of the Centre, a solo exhibition presented at Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers (2019); Artspace, Sydney (2019) and UQ Art Museum, Brisbane (2020/21). The exhibition toured to Museum of Contemporary Art and Design MCAD, Manila (2019) and will tour to a further ten regional venues across Australia through to 2023 with Museums and Galleries of NSW. Previous solo exhibitions include, Dangerous On The Way, a solo exhibition at the Palais de Toyko, Paris (2017); Ensemble, National Gallery of Victoria NGV, Melbourne (2017); Centre Pompidou in Paris and Malaga (2016), with a live version commissioned by the Serralves Museum, Porto (2016); Parade, 19th Biennale of Sydney (2014); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2016) and Gillman Barracks, Singapore (2017).

O’Callaghan’s work has been included in solo and group exhibitions in the following institutions: Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris; Museo D’Art Contemporanea Di Roma (MACRO), Rome; Centre d’Art Santa Mònica (CASM), Barcelona; Casa-Museu Medeiros e Almeida, Lisbon; Museu Nogueira da Silva, Braga; National Gallery of Australia (NGA); Institut d’art contemporain (IAC), Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes, Lyon; Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague; 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney; Yo-Chang Art Museum, National Taiwan University of Arts, Taipei; Kunstwerk Carlshutte, Budelsdorf; The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Sydney; National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei; Centre d’art Contemporain Les Tanneries, Amilly; Kunstverein Konstanz, Konstanz; The Ian Potter Museum, Melbourne; Musée d’Art Contemporain de Rochechouart, Rochechouart; Kunstmuseum, Ravensburg; Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam; Museo Ar/ge Kunst, Bolzano; Centre d’art contemporain, Malakoff; Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), Melbourne; Maison d’art Bernard Anthonioz, Fondation Nationale des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques, Nogent- sur-Marne; Le Printemps de Septembre, Toulouse; Videobrasil 05 15°, Festival de Arte Contemporânea Sesc Videobrasil, São Paulo.

A monograph of her work was published in 2020 by Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers; Artspace, Sydney and UQ Art Museum, Brisbane.

Mel O'Callaghan is represented by Galerie Allen, Paris; Kronenberg Mais Wright, Sydney; and Galeria Belo Galsterer, Lisbon.