Kate Cooper’s work is concerned with divergent bodies, the construction of images, and how we negotiate related power structures and refuse to perform certain forms of labour. Using new technologies, she produces images that create diverse approaches to the body. In her previous works she has considered computer generated images, illness, and neurodiverse bodies as spaces of refusal, learning and political potential.
For her first solo exhibition in Ireland, Kate Cooper presents two works: Untitled (After Sensory Primer) and a new work made in collaboration with her 4-year-old daughter. After Sensory Primer utilises computer generated X-ray images – the video pulses and glows as the camera is turned inside and through these virtual bodies. In both its production and intended affect, the work employs the action of ‘stimming’, repetitive movements or sounds used by neurodivergent people as a coping mechanism. Cooper is interested in stimming as a non-verbal form of communication and an ‘embodied form of resistance’ in a society dominated by relentless production and exhaustion. For her new piece, presented at Project Arts Centre for the first time, Cooper worked with her daughter using the gallery space to visually map her first drawings with light and sound. The work is a reflection on discovery, building forms of knowledge and calls to ways in which machines also learn through constant repetition and practice. The piece is a framework to consider the role and space of childcare not only as a way to reconsider how to produce images and meaning but considers the possibility of shared learning and creative labour.
Opening Night: 14 December – 6pm-8pm.
Opening night reception generously supported by Febvre Wines.
Funding
Arts Council DCC and Mondriaan Fund – Mondriaan Fonds.
Project Arts Centre is proudly supported by The Arts Council and Dublin City Council.