Maurice O’Connell continually questioned the role of the artist in contemporary society. His work was varied in scope from performance and installation works to acting as an advisor to architectural planners and co-ordinating education programmes both with art and non-art organisations.

‘Never mind ‘Kangaroo’ just Answer the Question’ consists of a series of personality test questionnaires pinned to the wall, with a stuffed wallaby, sitting on the ground nearby. The wallaby is distracting the viewer from the questionnaire, to confuse and detract from the task at hand. This task is further hindered by the fact that various questions are crossed out, rendering the form unreadable.

According to Legend the origin of the word ‘Kangaroo’ came about when the first white settlers in Australia, on seeing this animal for the first time, asked the natives for the name. The natives replied ‘Kangaroo’ which meant “I do not understand”. This work raises questions about how we understand one another. The manner and mode in which communication takes place is challenged.