Dan Macdonnell | PhD Exegesis

Dan McDonnell's work highlights the materiality of today's digital screens and display technologies in order to bring attention to their corporeal effects. The intense 'opticality' characteristic of today's display devices is referenced through McDonnell's use of the moiré pattern, which featured significantly in the Op Art movement of the 1950s and '60s. McDonnell employs the moiré pattern not only for its optical effects, but also for its capacity to form spatial relationships with viewers. The body was the 'blind spot' in Op art's fetishization of visuality, becoming symbolic of its technological optimism. In McDonnell's work, this mode of engagement is situated within the context of contemporary digital culture, bringing attention to how ubiquitous screen-based technologies control the body by enchanting the eye.