Archive
Panic Buttons
This sculpture/installation critiques mass consumerism and the relentless cycle of consumption and waste. The voodoo dolls in this piece are crafted from discarded junk and found objects, remnants of human excess. Gathered together, they urge us to reflect on our choices as consumers. In the past three decades alone, humans have consumed one-third of the planet’s resources – forcing us to confront the consequences of our actions. All the dolls have dazed button eyes, staring at us – the viewers – as if pleading for us to reflect on our choices and their impact on the world’s resources.
This work was selected for the Periodical Review #2 in Pallas, Dublin.
“When I first encountered Orla Galligan’s Panic Buttons in Trans Art Cavan I was reminded of the experience of viewing Anthony Gormely’s Field at IMMA in 1993, of being arrested by the silent host of miniature characters staring intensely at me, the viewer. Whereas Gormely’s Field was monochromatic, Galligan’s characters formed from the detritus of modern living are riotous in colour. Likened to voodoo dolls by the artist, 100 or more of these passive creatures stare at me from the floor, each face is adorned with dazed unblinking button eyes imploring the viewer/me to consider their provenance, from where do they come from? What caused them to exist? And what do they want from us?”
Mark Cullen
Curator, Pallas Projects