‘Listening to Soil’
‘Offering’
Interaction between materials, technology and culture
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.
By constructing a traditional lime kiln to mix lime with clay and soil, I am producing a work entitled the work, Offering, mimicking the shape of a burial vases vessel, historically meant to enclose cremation ashes. Offering aims to reveal forgotten histories when ecological practices and gathering food were based on the necessity of survival and the cycle of life. The artwork rewinds to a time when people did not exhaust nature.
Credit: tom mesic
Biography
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
Arwyn Jones from the Soil Project of the JRC Land Resources Unit, Ispra.
Dr Brendan O’Neill, UCD School of Archaeology and CEAMC.
Listening to Soil was commissioned by Gluon within the framework of STUDIOTOPIA, a project co-funded by Creative Europe Program of the European Union. With the kind support of VIB and National Culture and Arts Foundation. With the kind support of he 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, Creative Ireland Award and Monaghan Co Council. The project is also courtesy of Arts Council of Ireland Project Award, Trinity College Dublin, Monaghan County Council and the Creative Ireland Award.
STUDIOTOPIA is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
