Film ‘Live Transmissions in Venice. Morgan O’Hara’
by Candida Richardson

The film by Candida Richardson is based on a 45 min long unique performance ‘Live Transmissions in Venice’ that marked the opening of Morgan O’Hara’s solo show at Galleria dei Gondolieri, curated by Elisabeth de Brabant and Anna Shpilko.

O’Hara documented master artisan Saverio Pastor, one of Venice’s last fórcole* makers, as he carved these intricate wooden rowlocks. Saverio’s son, sound artist Tiziano Pastor, was simultaneously threading a live soundscape in response to his father’s work using both electronic and acoustic guitars, the last one – a gift from his father. 

Morgan O’Hara’s Live Transmission series operates at the intersection of forensic precision and empathic resonance, capturing movement in real time through a near-seismographic drawing process. Trajectories inherent in human activity are carefully observed and drawn simultaneously with both hands using multiple razor-sharp pencils. 

Her work has documented world-renowned conductors, dancers such as Merce Cunningham and Trisha Brown, as well as performance and sound artists from the New York and Japanese avant-garde scenes since the 1970s. 

*The Venetian fórcole are the end result of centuries of refinement of the simple oarlocks used in the Veneto lagoons: the oars became thinner, the morsi (hollows) became tighter; expensive woods are now used instead of the recuperated wood, above all the sanca (the elbow-shaped part) was invented to facilitate rowing in the narrow Venetian canals