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Where is Heidenheim?

The project ‘Where is Heidenheim?’ was a collaboration between O’Connell and UK artist Neal White. The intention was to test the potential of global media networks as a platform for the production of public art.O’Connell organized the production of an artwork in the form of a neon sign erected on the outside of the local newspaper offices Heidenheim Zietung [HZ] spelling out the question, ‘Where is Heidenheim?’. O’Connell and HZ Editor Dr. Hendrik Rupp, then negotiated with local papers across the world, so that an image of this sign in situ, was periodically printed inside the pages of ‘The Wendover Times’, Utah, USA; ‘Limerick Leader’, Ireland; ‘Free Imphal Press’, India; ‘Hibr’, Lebanon; ‘Namibia Times’, Namibia and ‘The Countryman’, Tasmania, Australia. These pages were subsequently re-printed as a full page inside HZ itself. Through these methods the project sought to enable interaction between diverse locations as an exploration of Rosalind Krauss’s definition of the ‘expanded field’ of sculpture. In this respect, local papers, media teams and editorial assistants interfacing with local newspapers in a variety of languages provide the ground and the materials of the artwork. Seen by large numbers of visitors to the Heidenheim Biennial, and across the world in local contexts of papers, the work has been further disseminated in a catalogue with interviews with the artists. O’Connell and White were nominated separately for the commission by Dr Penelope Curtis, director of Tate Britain. White and O’Connell conceptualized the work together and their joint proposal was shortlisted after peer-review by German critics and artists for Heidenheim Sculpture Biennial. An exhibition of 7 International artists work launched the project.