INVISIBLE SEAM – Welcome to Planet B

Credit: tom mesic

Siobhán McDonald examines particles floating in the air and matter buried underground from past worlds. In an exploration of Arctic permafrost and plants preserved in this depository, the project traces histories of generations of underground systems. Starting with boglands as its protagonist — their ecosystem, history and mythologies — the project considers ideas around time and the preservation of collective memory in that thin layer between soil and rocks, where some of the most important changes in contemporary times are taking place.

Siobhán McDonald (IE)

Cosmic Gas, paintings and Chine collé on German etching paper. Plant fragments collected from bog sites and glaciers created through invisible methane gas.

Listening to Soil

Siobhán McDonald (IE)

The project started collecting soil samples from the JRC soil library, organizing them by location, thus creating a roadmap to the journey soil has taken; the trail along which civilization travels. As the trail progresses across timescales, the PH content changes and the tonality of the soil shifts. The installation is one result of my ongoing dialogue with Arwyn Jones (EU – JRC) and archaeologist Dr Brendan O’Neill (IRL) to chart soil processes and rituals circa 1500 BC.

Siobhán McDonald (IE)

In the video installation Methane Lake, the artist paints methane ink on ancient ice which melts away. The act presents itself as a ritual or a time capsule of the frequency of the earth 20,000 years ago, representing the imagined notion of a time we cannot go back to.

Tipping Point water to air

Siobhán McDonald (IE)

A hand-blown glass vessel filled with 20,000-year-old glacial water (from the Dryas period) and 2.00 ml of future air that maps the story of the last major tipping point in the earth to the present day. It is a slow distillation of deep time, temperature, atmosphere and biosphere that points to a methane unsustainable future.

Biography

Siobhán McDonald’s practice draws attention to contemporary topics dealing with air, breath and atmospheric phenomena, weaving scientific knowledge into her art in a poetic and thoughtful manner. Siobhán works with natural materials, withdrawing them from their cycles of generation, growth and decay. This ritualized process gives form to a range of projects which consider our place on Earth in the context of geological time. Her work with glaciers and other natural phenomena deploys a unique artistic language that gives form to intangible and richly varied processes including painting, drawing, film and sound.
Siobhán is working with world-leading research facilities such as The European Space Agency (ESA) and The JRC European Commission to explore nature in light of current ecological concerns. Across research labs, her research-based approach pursues knowledge to ask questions about the structure and history of the Earth. She calls on notions of what is still unknown to science, exploring the Anthropocene and the recent consequences of our treatment of nature. 
Artist-in-Residence at Studiotopia and Trinity College Dublin (2020-2023.) Siobhán is exploring the Anthropocene and the recent consequences of our treatment of nature. Current and upcoming exhibitions include: The Model, Ireland (2023), Centre for Contemporary Art LAZNIA (2022); Bozar, Brussels (2022) and Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris (2022)
Recent awards include the Ocean Memory Award (2022); Arts Council Ireland Project Award 2022; EU Commission Alumni award 2021; Culture Ireland Award 2022; Arts Council’s Visual Arts Bursary 2020; Creative Ireland Award 2020 and Climate Whirl Arts Programme Helsinki 2021.
Recent shows include BOZAR, Brussels, 2020; Deutsches Hygiene-Museum DHMD, 2020; Volta, Basel 2019; Limerick City Art Gallery, 2019; Deutsches Hygiene-Museum DHMD, 2019; The National Trust Fox Talbot Museum, UK, 2018; Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris, 2018 among others. Her work is represented in many collections, both public and private such as The Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon, Allied Irish Banks, Bank of Ireland, The Ulster Museum and Trinity College Dublin. Her projects are supported by The European Commission, The Institute of Physics, Culture Ireland, The Arts Council and The European Research Council.

Credits

This project was created within the framework of Studiotopia in association with GLUON. Supported by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, and the Brussels Capital-Region, The Joint Research Centre, JRC SciArt project of the European Commission, Arts Council of Ireland Project Award, Trinity College Dublin, Culture Ireland and Creative Ireland Award.
STUDIOTOPIA is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.