Oscar McDonah
Through my practice as a sculpture artist as well as a front of house lighting director, what has become apparent to me as being important to my exercise as an artist is the attention to environment and atmosphere; (in the case of how a piece interacts with its surrounding environment, and how the piece itself can alter and contribute to such).
With this focus, much of my practice is executed through the incorporation of scale and lighting design when approaching sculptural works / installations. The process of designing and installing my larger works relies on the knowledge of architectural design and stability (to the scale of a very small standing room and for the purpose of art), offering a sometimes humorous and or crude approach to space and often applying such to materials including wooden pallets, plywood, 2 x 4(s), and found objects.
Working to finish my most recent installation, Carousel in Fluxus, I found myself heavily influenced by Andre Heller, specifically through his contributions to and organization of Luna Luna. Conscious of varying space parameters, I have been continuing to explore these concepts on smaller scales, where the challenge may then be how I am able to break the space of a pedestal rather than that of an entire room. These challenges too interest me.
Through my studies at Millersville University, I had also become aware of how Happenings inform my practices as an artist as well as a lighting designer and ultimately what role they play in my work. Lighting live shows with performances by musical artists has become influential to my awareness of how Happenings relate to my work. I attempt to incorporate this concept in my work through live lighting, performance, and attention to the juxtaposition of contexts between my pieces and the settings in which they are displayed for a moment in time.
Often this presents itself in humorous contexts which I have found important to the development of my
