We’re excited to share with you this short documentary of Siobhán McDonald (past artist in residence at JRC) which takes you through her recent solo exhibition and latest projects, a number of which have been shaped and influenced by her experience as a resident artist at JRC, and her close and productive collaboration with JRC soil scientist Arwyn Jones.
Watch the documentary, here:
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or watch the documentary on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/848471564.
The Boglands are Breathing
Siobhán McDonald’s solo exhibition, 'The Boglands are Breathing', presents a new body of work that explores the role of boglands as both repositories of our past and guardians of our future. Boglands are mythical places where the most important changes of contemporary times are taking place. The artist, Joseph Beuys described them as “the liveliest elements in the European landscape, not just [for] flora, birds and animals, but as storing places of life, mystery and chemical change, preservers of ancient history.” The Boglands are Breathing responds directly to this thinking to encourage awareness of the cultural, historical, biological and climatic significance of bogs. In a multifaceted body of work, Siobhán blends scientific and creative processes to make sculpture, video, works on paper, paintings and sound pieces. Our shared boglands are positioned as the protagonists of an unseen drama, and this work makes visible the collective memory that is held in the rich repository that exists within the thin layer between the soil and the rocks.
The exhibition gathers numerous collaborators, bringing together scientists, conservators, musicians, philosophers, perfumers and celestial phenomena, all of whom collectively take part in the evolution of the work. Amongst the new work that anchors the exhibition is a an artistic response to the fascinating project ‘Unlocking Nature’s Pharmacy from Bogland Species (UNPBS)’ led by Professor Helen Sheridan, Academic Director of NatPro, Trinity Centre for Natural Products Research. An installation entitled ‘A library of lost smells,’ consisting of plant species, gathered from numerous bog sites across Ireland acts as a slow distillation of deep time created from plants and mineral rich bog waters, that explores links between smell & memory.
The installation holds an assortment of hand blown glass bottles containing scent from eight of the most important notes. Some of the vessels contain scent infused remnants that were buried deep in a bog for over 20 years alluding to the low oxygen levels and unusual smells derived from the preservation conditions. The artwork employs the senses to cultivate an intimate, intuitive experience that aims to transport participants through time as a reminder of the medicinal properties in the pharmacy beneath our feet.
Background
Siobhán McDonald initially participated to Resonances III, datami, with the installation, To Breathe, a deep reflection on the symbiotic relationship and connection between humans and the natural world through our breath. Resonances III led her to the STUDIOTOPIA project, a cultural exchange between different countries, artists and scientists, including the JRC.
As part of the STUDIOTOPIA project Siobhan collaborated with Arwyn Jones from the JRC Soil Team to develop the project Listening to Soil. Listening to Soil began with Siobhan's visits to the JRC Ispra and the soil library, creating a roadmap to the journey soil has taken; the trail along which civilization travels. The resulting installation developed from ongoing dialogue and art-science collaboration with Arwyn and archaeologist Dr Brendan O’Neill to chart soil processes and rituals circa 1500 BC.
Moreover, she showcased this project, together with three others Cosmic Gas, Methane Lake and Tipping Point water to air to make up the installation INVISIBLE SEAM, as part of the STUDIO(dys)TOPIA – At the Peak of Humankind Exhibition at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria (2022).
Some of these works - all of them the result of the collaboration between the artist and the scientists, presented within the framework of the STUDIOTOPIA network - have so far been exhibited for the Colliding Epistemes travelling exhibition at BOZAR Brussels (Belgium), Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art (Poland), Cluj Cultural Centre (Cluj-Napoka, Romania).
All images: stills from the documentary by Siobhan McDonald
Details
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