Andrew Connelly Artist Lecture at Robert Else Gallery CSUS

CSUS Professor Andrew Connelly gave an artist lecture at the Robert Else Gallery about his show All Exhaltations: Meditation in Sculpture on Thursday, February 1, 2018. The lecture was done in an interview style with the curator of his show Diana L. Daniels. There was a screen and chairs outside the gallery for people to listen to the lecture while the interview was happening inside the gallery.

One of Connelly's neighbors committed suicide and left behind propane tanks which he later used as bells for the top of the metal structures. A big moment during the creation of this installation was realizing the effects of the bells ringing. The interest led to an investigation of the significance of bells in cultures all around the world. The same tonal ringing caused by striking the bells are both is calming and uneasy. They also discussed a bit about the installation itself and experimenting with using different lights to project the symbols. The organization of the symbols above the bells and their projections opened up an opportunity to explore the relationships between them. The buildings he chose to simplify and recreate out of metal are proportionate to the real buildings themselves. These buildings were a big part of his life. He had concluded that making work that he calls simple looking to be coherent is much more difficult than making complex work.  

There was a very large crowd outside the galley waiting to ask questions after the interview. The question I had asked him was: How important was it to have an installation since the pieces themselves could have been sculptures instead?

A piece is not a piece until someone steps into the space. It is conceptual architect, to enter or touch the space is predeterminate. Level of interest actively comes about imagery and space.