In the ‘Feelers’ poster series MacWilliam draws analogies between the parlour game of blind man’s buff and the experimental demonstrations of dermo optical perception. ‘Living Room’ gathers together a number of obscure historical figures who have all been the subject of MacWilliam’s work. These figures posses a variety of bizarre and extraordinary phenomena which are discussed in the 2005 video work ‘Explaining Magic To Mercer’, here the artist discusses the X-Ray vision of Kuda Bux, the ectoplasmic materialisations of Helen Duncan, the multiple personalities of Mollie Fancher and the fingertip vision of Rosa Kuleshova with her 5 year old nephew Mercer.

‘Dermo Optics’, 2006 presents footage recorded in 2005 when MacWilliam travelled to Paris to meet Madame Duplessis, a senior researcher in dermo optical perception and director Centre d’Information de la Couleur. Madame Duplessis and her colleagues are observed as they demonstrate the experimental apparatus in her cellar laboratory.

Incorporating research into the fields of psychical research, psychology, physiology, photography and optical viewing devices MacWilliam’s practice explores ideas about the visible and the invisible. Using video, photography and installation the works explore ideas about the presentation and credibility of an image and ideas about vision and perception, reality and illusion. The practice involves the investigation of particular individual case histories and myths. Perceptual phenomena, paranormal activity and eyeless sight are amongst the phenomena examined.

dermo optics - Dermo optical perception (also referred to as eyeless sight or fingertip vision) is the ability to ‘see’ without using the eyes. People who possess dermo optical perception often demonstrate it under test conditions while blindfolded or behind screens.

Susan MacWilliam will be working as an artist in residence in New York 22nd Sep - 22nd Oct 2006.

 

Susan MacWilliam Biographical Details:

Susan MacWilliam (born 1969) lives and works in Belfast. MacWilliam is a part time lecturer in the Fine Art Department, National College of Art and Design, Dublin. In 2001 she was the recipient of a Major Individual Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

MacWilliam was short-listed for the 1999 IMMA/Glen Dimplex Artists Award; her installation ‘Kuda Bux’ was awarded the Perspective 2003 Prize at the Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast.

Solo shows include ‘Dermo Optics’, Likovni Salon, Celje, Slovenia, 2006; ‘Susan MacWilliam’, Ard Bia Café, Galway, 2006; ‘Headbox’, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin, 2004; ‘On The Eye’, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast, 2003 and Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, 2002; ‘Susan MacWilliam’, Cornerhouse, Manchester, 2001; ‘The Persistence of Vision’, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick, 2000; ‘Experiment M’, Context Gallery, Derry, 1999; ‘Faint’, Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast, 1999; ‘Curtains’, Project Arts Centre, Dublin, 1997.

Recent group shows include; EV+A 2006, Limerick; Smoke and Mirrors, Mac, Birmingham; To Be Continued…/Jatkuu…, Helsinki Photography Festival, Helsinki, Finland, 2005; Red White Blue, Spencer Gladstone Gallery, New York, 2005; Artistas Visuales de Belfast, La Sala Naranja, Valencia, Spain, 2005; Inter, Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston, 2004; Eye Test, Stephen Lawrence Gallery, Old Royal Naval College, Maritime Greenwich, London, 2004; Perspective 03, (Prize Winner) Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast, 2003; House of Science, Kino Central, Berlin, 2003; Afterlife, Chapter Arts, Cardiff + Guildhall, Newcastle Upon Tyne, 2003.

Residencies include Zavod Celeia, Centre for Contemporary Art, Celje, Slovenia, 2006; Caribbean Contemporary Arts (CCA), Trinidad, 2001; International Studio Program at the PS1 Centre for Contemporary Art, New York, 1999/2000 and the Artists Work Programme at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 1998.