A hand-blown glass vessel filled with 20,000-year-old glacial water (from the Dryas period) and 2.00 ml of future air maps the story of the last major tipping point in the earth, which occurred during the Dyras period, to the present day. It is a slow distillation of deep time, temperature, atmosphere and biosphere that points to a methane unsustainable future. Tipping Point — water to air is inspired by the oldest plant ever to be regenerated and grown from 32,000-year-old seeds — the artist explored this age-old plant to determine how the seeds were able to survive for so long. It is a time capsule of the frequency of the Earth 32,000 years ago. The seeds were found covered in ice 124 feet below the permafrost and regenerated in glass vials.
Siobhán McDonald (IE) developed four artworks during a residency hosted by GLUON and part of the STUDIOTOPIA project. All works (Listening to Soil; Cosmic Gas; Methane Lake; Tipping Point) examine 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’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.
Discover all the works of this series:
