On Chorus (2020)

On Chorus, is a large-scale public sound artwork that used field recordings I created of the spring dawn chorus in Dublin city during the first Covid-19 lockdown and broadcasted these sounds across Ireland, using Irish Rail’s network of train station PA systems, every morning from 8am to 9am. The sounds were also synchronously broadcast on a website, created in collaboration with Fallow Media. The On Chorus website also featured a series 35mm photographs by Christopher Steenson, as well as a series invited essays by artists Mark Garry, Suzanne Walsh, Jez riley French.

The artwork ran from 18 to 29 November 2020, taking place simultaneously in over 65 train stations across Ireland. In April 2021, On Chorus won a Business to Arts Award for ‘Best Use of Creativity in the Workplace’. The artwork received coverage from various media outlets, including RTÉ Radio 1, Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Dublin Inquirer and Totally Dublin.

On Chorus aimed to highlight Ireland’s urban biodiversity and the heightened sense of quietness during lockdown by placing emphasis on birdsong, which filled urban spaces usually consumed by human-made noise pollution. By transmitting the sounds of lockdown, the artwork sought to highlight the use of listening as a connecting act during times of social distancing.

An artist LP for the artwork was released in November 2021. This is a gatefold LP, pressed on 180g recycled vinyl, with an 8-page booklet, featuring 35mm photographs by the artist and a text response by visual artist Ann Maria Healy. It is an edition of 200 copies and is published by Fallow Media. For more information, see here.