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2008 Fall

Patrick O'Hare: Things That Are Already There

In an interview with P.S.1 Curatorial Advisor Phong Bui, National and International Projects artist Patrick O’Hare speaks about his artistic influences and creative processes.

Phong Bui: As an undergraduate student at SUNY Binghamton you studied with filmmaker Ken Jacobs who left an impression on you. What was that was like?

Patrick O’Hare: Ken would show film clips from the news and TV. Then he would analyze the commentaries and images through philosophy, art, and poetry. He really made you think about the craft and artistry of film but would also alert you to its intent and use in mass media and in propaganda. I think he gave me the tools of a skeptic.

PB: When and how did you change from taking images of New York City streets to the suburbs and rural areas? 

POH: Even though I was taking lots of black-and-white pictures of the city streets, in retrospect it was always about people gathering in relation to a space. Eventually I began to take trips to the countryside and suburbs where the contrast between man-made environment and nature become even more apparent. That was when, around 2000, I turned to color and started shooting medium format, which lends itself to landscape, which has become the subject of my work ever since. 

I am still drawn to unique spaces that evoke strong feelings in me, though the people have largely vanished.

PB: How do you describe your process?

POH: It’s a combination of intuitive searching and many of the things I’ve read, various films I’ve seen and music I listen to. I admire Robert Frank immensely. Also, Don DeLillo has had a huge influence on my work. His writing has so many layers that reverberate, the images that lie underneath and around the narrative, the coincidences in the landscape. There always seems to be this kind of giant iceberg underneath the surface, which evokes a poetic tension that deals with the notion of modern efficiency and alienation, a service society and what that does to people. He really tunes in to the mystery and the ruthlessness of what appears to be transient and impermanent. But he does it with a grace and poignancy that appeals to me, and always with an understanding that this is a world where people live. 

PB: How about Robert Smithson and the aspect of entropy?

POH: Smithson’s work was as much about the natural process as it was about human intervention. His earthworks are susceptible to corrosion, fragmentation, decomposition, and so on. Similarly I embrace many of these aspects in my work though I am always searching through the landscape for things already there: embankments, shards of architecture, things that are visually interesting through happenstance and in some state of transition. 

PB: You don’t use digital manipulation or have interest in formal serial structure?

POH: No, it’s all traditional. Unlike some contemporary photographers who utilize the digital process in order to make their work monumental in size, I prefer to keep my work medium size or relatively small and intimate. I believe scale has to do with how the image resonates in spite of its size. As far as the idea of a series of similar structures or types, I am far more interested in showing a wide range of landscapes/structures in order to make new comparisons and connections.