Little Interview
Every month we ask the same set of questions to someone collaborating with us. Over the last number of years, we have interviewed diverse members of the Glucksman community - artists, academics, staff members, guests, audiences and workshop participants. The responses are funny, inspiring, revealing and always a great read.
This month, we hear from Katie O'Grady, Curator of Exhibitions + Projects at The Glucksman.
What are you reading?
I’ve just started Brian, by Jeremy Cooper, a book about a burgeoning cinephile finding community through art which also includes a lot of interesting film criticism – it is good so far! I recently finished The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story by Olga Tokarczuk which I adored – a feminist parable, heavily referenced to Mann’s The Magic Mountain, full of magic realism that insists on the importance of embracing the blurriness of life.
Favourite museum?
I have a very fond memory of going to the Centre Pompidou in Paris with my parents when I was a child which had a huge influence on me. I am always impressed by the ambitious installations at Tramway in Glasgow and enjoy returning for new exhibitions.
Best performance?
Amanda Coogan’s durational performance for Caught in the Furze in Cork Midsummer this year was incredible to watch develop and shift over the seven days, working on this project gave me so much more in-depth insight into the possibilities of gesture and time as medium.
Most treasured possession?
I have a collection of notes, cards and postcards from loved ones which I have brought with me across apartments and cities. They mean a lot to me.
Work(s) of art that inspire you?
Working surrounded by art I am constantly inspired, and particularly so by the vast scope of artistic practice. How, why and for whom works are made inspires me more sometimes than any outcome or result. Maybe a particular body of work which I have held with me since first encountering it in 2021 is Arjuna Neuman and Denise Ferreira da Silva’s collaborative projects which take the classical elements to create philosophical films exploring entanglement, colonialism and climate collapse. I was fortunate to get to work on an iteration of their film Soot Breath at my internship in Glasgow, working with their research archive which comprised interviews, texts, Tarot cards and email exchanges expanding the film.
A lightbulb moment?
Working with my friends and peers in my undergrad at LSAD through our curatorial collective called Ragaire. We did it initially to just show our own work, it was all very DIY and a lot more fun than anything serious but is where I decided to pursue curatorial practice and where I learned the importance of collaboration.
Guilty pleasure?
I have a very 7-year-old fascination and excitement about volcanoes.
What would you like to be doing right now?
I would love to be back on Achill with my close group of friends, cohabiting with the roaming sheep, going to the beach and then a pint in the pub telling stories, hatching up plans.