Another Day in Futile Battle against the 2nd Law: Solo exhibition MCAC

The Second Law of Thermodynamics States that whenever energy is transformed from one form to another form, entropy increases and energy decreases.
The work for this exhibition falls under the 2nd law. O’Beirn used sculptural means to try to understand spatial relationships and physical properties of the stars whilst attempting to come to grips with the inevitable slide from order to chaos. The work, developed through over a year of dialogue with and support from astronomers from Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, consists of a sculptural installation and some new animations pieces, all of which explore in different ways how a lay-person struggles to understand scientific concepts. The installation explores stellar distances by spatially imagining the constellation the Great Bear, using precariously balanced and placed found objects.

The animation Vastness (Meteor Showers) is a reflection on time and the nature of predictable and unpredictable events. The animation, Slices of Time (some questions), tracks conversations on subjects ranging from infinity, inflation the big bang and stellar distributions with astronomer Simon Jeffery.

The show opened up contemporary artwork to new audiences in the scientific community. There were a series of events and workshops aimed at schools, colleges and the interested public, which Millennium Court developed around this show.

With special thanks to Emeritus Prof. Mark Bailey and to Simon Jeffery of Armagh Observatory.
Sound track for Vastness (Meteor Showers) Boris Völt, courtesy of TONN Recordings.