Abstract

O’Neill presented In Memory at the Salina Art Center, Salina, Kansas. This work was submitted as a proposed event in response to an international call for papers and took the form of a participative exhibition. The work itself required public participation in both the form of its construction and destruction. 100 images printed on silk squares were sent to residents of Salina, accompanied by a note asking the recipients to bring the square to the gallery and install it in a structure provided by the artist. The images sent out were of the family events that we all share – birthdays, baby’s first tooth or first hair cut. The structure already contained images which we do not share – medical records, paraphernalia of medical procedures and intimations of death. The work was destined to be incomplete, some of the recipients would not want to participate and some images would be lost or forgotten. The work was also to be unmade – The recipients were asked to return to the gallery and remove an image which they could keep. The photographic images were not fixed and so would fade with exposure to light. The very act of looking at them would contribute to their disappearance. During the exhibition the American poet Patricia Paler was asked to present a commentary on the exhibition and to select poetry that engaged with a conversation with the work. The Salina Art Centre funded the production of In Memory.