Future Breath exhibition to launch at Science Gallery Dublin

Posted on: 12 December 2018

A new exhibition, Future Breath, launches this evening (Wednesday 12th December) at Science Gallery Dublin. This evolving work about the importance of the air we breathe and the unmistakable threat plants and nature face in the wake of climate change has been created by artist, Siobhan McDonald, and supported by a Trinity Creative Challenge award. The exhibition runs until 5 pm on Saturday 15th December.

With Future Breath, the artist embarks on a journey to explore the notion of breath for an artwork constructed for Science Gallery Dublin in collaboration with Trinity College Herbarium, Trinity’s Botany Department, and its School of Natural Sciences.

In the exhibition, Siobhan McDonald brings together the stories of two recently felled Oregon Maple (sister) trees that hold memories of significant events and histories at the heart of Trinity. The installation at the Science Gallery Dublin suggests a journey through the grounds of Trinity like a section through its anatomy.

Future Breath is a multi-part slide installation that weaves together narratives of studies in human breath, medicine and plant remedies from Trinity’s archives, and the idea of coexistence in a world moved by invisible networks. The installation also comprises a series of paintings that seeks to capture the innate environment-sensing capacity of plants. The paintings represent an alternative archive of new knowledge made by the toxic pollutants that permeate our city.

Siobhan McDonald said: “Future Breath uses the architecture of Trinity College Dublin as a point of departure that connects the breathing pores and DNA of plants to the body that is Trinity. The trees represent the lungs of the body as the roots that remain in front square reach into the present.”

Siobhan McDonald extends her deepest thanks to Christopher Ash (collaborator on the film and slide projection), and David Stalling (collaborator on the sound piece). For more information about Siobhan McDonald, see here, and for more about the exhibition, see here.

About The Trinity Creative Challenge

The exhibition was supported by an award from The Trinity Creative Challenge, which aims to nurture, promote and develop new approaches to interdisciplinary creative and cultural arts practice in Dublin and Ireland, including projects by staff and students of Trinity College Dublin and associated colleges. It also seeks to foster new collaborations between the Trinity community and the cultural and creative industries sector, and to identify emerging creative talent and support innovative and ambitious projects in and around Trinity College Dublin and the wider community. Successful applicants receive funding to support the development of their projects. More information is available here.