Squarehead Productions was founded by Darragh McLoughlin and Elena Kreusch in 2012 as a platform for supporting artistic research and performance; as well as being a space for collaboration with other artists from all fields. Elena departed from the company in 2019 to pursue her own artistic endeavours. Her work can be found here.

Darragh is a conceptual artist with roots in contemporary circus. His physical practice is centred around different movement practices and research with objects. The body remains a central subject/object within all of his work. Much of his time is spent learning very particular non-functional skills most other people wouldn’t think of and/or bother practicing. His work appears through a multitude of different formats and can be seen as live performances, performance lectures, video installations and visual art works.

His creation methodology has a strong focus on dramaturgy and the role of the audience within a performance context. Many of his influences stem from the fields of cognitive science, psychology, semantics, ludology and aesthetics.

Squarehead Productions’ ethos is to engage with what feels to be ‘meaningful and relevant’ in that moment - with a strong focus on developing this research as tools for creation methods. Each project puts emphasises the role of the audience within a performance context whereby the dramaturgy of the work revolves around the experience of the audience offering them to become co-creators of the work rather than simply spectators.

The company currently operates mostly around Darragh’s work, with a shift towards supporting and collaborating with other artists.

AWARDS + SUPPORT

2020: Take Action: Fonds Daku - support by the Berlin Senate for The Exhibition Project

2014-2022: Has received various forms of support from The Arts Council recognising his work as an important part of the Irish contemporary circus scene. Many thanks to this organisation for supporting my work throughout the years.

2019: Selected with ‘The Whistle’ as one of KreativKultur’s [re]searched artists.

2017: Selected for the Next Generation Bursary Award by the Arts Council of Ireland

2015: Received Circus Next Laureate with his work ‘Fragments of a Mind’

2015: Awarded the Comic Innovation Award at BE Festival for his work ‘The Whistle’, and was selected to be part of the ‘Best of BE Tour’ in Spain and the U.K.