Regeneration is a stop-motion animation created by filming the process of making a series of paintings based on the transformation of the Blanchardstown area (outside Dublin) over the last ten years. The process of painting echoes the construction of man-made interventions as the layers of paint chart the rapid build-up of an urban landscape. The animation loops back to before the beginnings of this development, when the area was farmland.
(Text: a sense of place catalogue, 2007)
OPEN e v + a 2007 - a sense of place was curated by Klaus Ottmann, an independent curator and scholar based in New York. OPEN e v+ a 2007 presented 32 artists, of which 18 were Irish; the remaining 14 artists from the UK, Europe, Canada and the United States.
As part of YOUNG e v+ a 2007, children and families were invited to participate in 'Building Ericsville', a workshop based on Eric Glavin's work in e v+ a 2007. YOUNG e v+ a also included a selection of artists involved in the current exhibition to deliver a series of short talks about their practice in primary and secondary schools. Other events included a bus tour of exhibition venues, artists talks, and a FRINGE e v+ a WALKING TOUR.
The Colloquies, for the sixth time, brought together the present and past e v+ a curators, invited guests, artists and other interested audiences for a round of informal discussions on matters of common concern affecting art and culture.
https://www.eva.ie/artist/eamon-okane-6/?yr=2007
O'Kane has also produced an intriguing work called Regeneration, a stop-motion animation of a dozen paintings based on aerial views of Blanchardstown outside Dublin. The paintings track a period of ten years when the area went from farmers' green fields bisected by hedgerows to the whites, tans, and grays of urban development, in this case the form of one of the largest shopping centers in Ireland.
Excerpt from 'CARTOGRAPHY: Artists + Maps, Princeton Architectural Press'
'Eamon O'Kane's Regeneration (2006) presented a series of paintings in stop-motion animation, which documented the ongoing development of a rural area outside Dublin, the layers of paint recording the sequence of man-made interventions in the area.'
Zoe Gray, Contemporary magazine, 2007
'...while Eamon O'Kane's stop-motion paintings on video record the changes inflicted on Blanchardstown, a fastgrowing area outside Dublin and the site of Ireland's biggest shopping centre, and illustrates his ongoing concerns with art and architecture.'
Klaus Ottmann, 2007