Chris O'Shea's Hand From Above

Hand from Above from Chris O'Shea on Vimeo.

This was up all last month on the main screen in clayton square, liverpool. I passed it by at first unknowingly,  I heard an unusual sound and looked up to see a video of myself being tickled by a giant hand, one of the single most surreal experiences to happen to me yet. It took a few seconds before i figured out what was happening and then i found myself intrigued by the video.

"Chris O'Shea's Hand From Above encourages us to question our normal routine when we often find ourselves rushing from one destination to another. Inspired by Land of the Giants and Goliath, we are reminded of mythical stories by mischievously unleashing a giant hand from the BBC Big Screen. Passers by will be playfully transformed. What if humans weren’t on top of the food chain?

Unsuspecting pedestrians will be tickled, stretched, flicked or removed entirely in real-time by a giant deity.

Hand from Above is a joint co-commission between FACT: Foundation for Art & Creative Technology and Liverpool City Council for BBC Big Screen Liverpool and the Live Sites Network. It premiered during the inaugural Abandon Normal Devices Festival."

A Trip for Inspiration: Part 1

I recently took a trip to the Walker Art Gallery and the Tate Liverpool for some general inspiration. apart from getting told off for taking pictures I managed to see some interesting things.

The Tate has some very interesting sculptures as a part of the DLA Piper Series: This Is Sculpture, these two especially took my interest.

 (left) This piece first interested me because one of my friends had done something similar not to long ago. Then when I took time to look at it properly I noticed the quality of the painting of the clouds upon the face, this is quite a strong piece without being to aggressive, and yet the notion of there being a head mounted on the wall is actually quite aggressive.

(right) The way the light bounces off the walls gives quite a air of awe to this piece and the shape of a cross instantly connects this piece with an other worldly aura. still unsure about the yellow paint it was bouncing off, but over all i felt this piece as simple as it is has good standing and holds a distinctive feeling to it.

Also part of this; is A room made up by Wayne & Jack Hemingway as a huge dancefloor.  For this room you take some headphones in and listen to music whilst walking past sculpture with discoballs and mirrors surrounding. This I felt really did bring the sculptures to life, definatly lets you look at the pieces in a new way and i felt like it was done in a way that worked.  The only problem i had with this room was i didn't see any pieces i havn't seen before, i felt the selection of the pieces was a little uninspired.