Siobhan McGibbon
Siobhan McGibbon
The Xenophon Project
March 26 to September 29 2018
Studio open to the public on Thursdays and Fridays.
The Xenophon Project gives a glimpse into a near future that, whilst fictional, is founded on current scientific research. The existence of the Xenothorpean race is a sci-fi-inspired commentary that embodies research undertaken by McGibbon whilst on residency in the Center for Research in Medical Devices (CURAM)(2015-2017) and the Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI)(2016) juxtaposed with concepts of trans-humanism, longevity studies and the mythology of immortality.
The project’s central line of enquiry is, however, the underlying concept of what it means to be human, the inherent boundaries, dilemmas and processes to be encountered in becoming something other than human.
The Xenophon Project is an inter-disciplinary project by visual artist Siobhan McGibbon (Cork) and writer Maeve O’Lynn (Belfast). McGibbon O’Lynn employ sculpture, narrative, animation and technology to explore the interstices between art and science, and the future of the human species. For her residency, Siobhan McGibbon will create a large sculptural installation entitled “UBI TUNC VOX INAUDITAE MELODIAE? ET VOX INAUDITAE LINGUAE?”. This work will explore the projected transcendence from our current state of existence to this enhanced post-human state of being.
Siobhan McGibbon is an Irish visual artist interested in trans disciplinary practice, particularly the intersections between art and medical science. She works conceptually with sculpture, installation, drawing, animation and biomaterials. In 2014 McGibbon was awarded a Limerick Capital of Culture scholarship to undertake a practice based research PhD in the ACADEMY research center at Limerick School of Art and Design, where she is exploring the notion of “The contemporary quest for the fountain of youth” through a series of unusual investigations in the in the sectors of anatomy, medical and biological exploration and centres of scientific enquiry
Image: Future Relic Three: Xenopthor’s Chalice, "The future is already here", Galway City Museum, 2015, Stem cells, Human Hair, wax, found Object. Image courtesy of Tom Flanagan 2015
Uillinn Residencies are supported by the Arts Council and Cork County Council.
