mnartists.org: Fiona MacNeill

Artery 24 2008, 2009

Fiona MacNeill — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:49:55 GMT

Artery 24 is an action-packed, experimental showcase for performance and new media now in it’s sophomore incarnation at The Soap Factory. Artery 24 features performance ranging from: dance to experimental theatre to live art, and new media ranging from the interactive to the projected. Artery 24 is a harried land of ambition, imagination and endurance spanning a non-stop period of twenty-four hours. This pioneering event invites the audience to come and go as they pleased or dares them to brave extended hours of cutting edge programming, the choice is yours! Artery 24 will be presented amongst the contemporary artworks of the Frontier Preachers exhibition, open from June 6th – July 26th.

video: Artery 24 2008 Retrospective Video - Part 2

video: Artery 24 2008 Retrospective Video - Part 1

McAnal Retention (before Sarah there was Moira)

Fiona MacNeill — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:01:24 GMT

This was a deliberate attempt on my part to get rid of Moira once and for all. After losing the election, Moira was reduced to cleaning toilets for a living. She couldn't even do that well. This is likely to be the last Moira Doyle performance... you never know though she may come back one day!

Moira Doyle Publicity Roll

Fiona MacNeill — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 03:47:00 GMT

Publicity shots for Moira Doyle, a recurring character who first appeared in [i]Untitled 0.1[/i] in 2006. Until December 2008 Doyle was a Republican candidate for special election to congress ([i]99 Red Balloons/99 Red Buffoons[/i]).

Untitled 0.1 Performance 10/06

Fiona MacNeill — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 18:53:44 GMT

Untitled 0.1 is a performance inadvertently rendered by an office girl. A role assumed by the artist Fiona MacNeill, and a capacity which she has recurrently fulfilled in reality. Can a person be held accountable for simply doing their job, even if their job is quite despicable? Perhaps the blame should be placed squarely upon the shoulders of those higher up in the chain of command. However, in this world of multi-conglomerations, corporations and globalization, couldn't we always shift the blame higher? Shareholders, benefactors, leaders; those who have attained a kind of corporeal omnipotence, are they accountable? Or, are we all part of a vast mechanism, playing our individual roles and continuing to operate? At what point does the individual become a cog, and identity a distant memory? Untitled 0.1 is the first live performance presented by the Two-Artists in the United States. Written & conceived by Fiona MacNeill with developmental and technical support from Tucker MacNeill. Please come along to our 'stateside' litmus test and let us know what you think.

The Untitled Performance 03/04

Fiona MacNeill — Wed, 24 May 2006 15:03:42 GMT

A performance about the nature of Obsessive-Compulsive activity. A surreal reverie with coordinating sound that leads to love making with the table, an inanimate object. The whole performance was filmed through the glass of the table and the resulting video installed in a television set placed underneath the table facing upwards.

No man is an Island

Fiona MacNeill — Tue, 23 May 2006 00:03:51 GMT

Digital drawing based on network theory.

Public Speaker No. 9

Fiona MacNeill — Mon, 22 May 2006 23:33:09 GMT

'Public Speaker No. 9' was made as a jest. At my previous performance 'Sonata' a musician had made a comment about my public speaking abilities, also that particular performance used 8 speakers for output of audio. I desided to go back to making sculpture, but this time I made a speaker that exposed not only it's private zones, but exposing itself to public scrutiny (something that I frequently do as part of my practice). I have constructed the secretive/imaginary inner mechanics; endeavoring to show the sound's existence in this big empty cavenous object. The piece was shown as part of the 'Sculpture at Canterbury' at the Herbert Read Gallery, Kent, U.K. It is now part of a corperate collection in Scotland.

Sonny & Cher, A re-working of 'I got you babe'

Fiona MacNeill — Mon, 22 May 2006 23:10:12 GMT

'Sonny & Cher' was a short video piece about literal breakdown of communication between a couple. The couple's voices are represented as pure sound that becomes increasingly distorted with each repeat of the looped argument. Their breakdown represents the degradation of sound and Sonny & Cher's own real-life relationship as an aspect of pop culture. Shown at Kent Institute of Art & Design and Margate Rocks Contemporary Art Festival in 2005.

Sonata: The Chain of Communication, Performance and Concept Album

Fiona MacNeill — Mon, 22 May 2006 22:57:08 GMT

An art work made with the help of over 50 musicians from around Kent and London in the U.K. A musical 'chinese whispers' experiment with two musical motifs being interpreted by an initial musician and recorded, then the recording was played to the next musician and their interpretation was recorded and played to the next musician and so forth.... The process was recombined and documented as a live performance demonstration followed by a narrated concept album.

Prankcalls Made to S.C.O.R.E., a series of documented performances

Fiona MacNeill — Mon, 22 May 2006 22:44:34 GMT

The image shown (telephone) is where the audio evidence of 'Prancalls made to S.C.O.R.E.' was finally installed. The 'evidence' of the performances also existed as an editioned book. The telephone was installed at Kent Institute of art and Design in the U.K. and rang every couple of minutes with interior audio in the handset. The 'Prankcalls' performances consisted of 5 phonecalls made to exclusive London art Galleries. During each phonecall instead of speaking I played a small customised musical instrument down the phone, which created drawings simultaneously, an electronic recorded voice denoted the work as being by me. I called the galleries while they were shut in order to leave the performances as answer machine messages. The first letter of the name of each gallery combined spelled the word S.C.O.R.E., the drawings being made were also musical scores as in the Scoring Board performance. No one really influenced me to do this, it was a fairly weird thing to do. I guess Laurie Anderson's experimentation with telephones.

The Scoring Board Performance

Fiona MacNeill — Mon, 22 May 2006 22:26:27 GMT

'The Scoring Board Performance' was a live audio piece made in 2004. It was performed at The Goods Shed Farmers Market in Canterbury, Kent, U.K. The work consisted of ink-painted stretched cello strings being amplified and plucked above a long roll of paper. The strings made ink marks much like musical notes and staves on the paper thus making a real-time musical score and performance. My central influences when making this piece were; fluxus, Laurie Anderson, John Cage, Alvin Lucier.