A sound art exhibition running 14 Dec 2021 – 3 Dec 2022
We made class sounds, and listened back to our recordings on Zoom and WhatsApp. We boosted our health and our happiness. It was fab!!
David Carter, Sound On! Artist, Saint John of God Liffey Service
We are delighted to be part of this wonderful inclusive partnership and to launch this powerful work. I’m looking forward to exploring the response to the art work at our Beautiful Difference symposium in June, 2022.
Allie Walton-Robson, Creative Director, Headway Arts
Sound On! is a creative sound artwork exploring experiences of human rights and happiness for and by people with a learning disability. The sound artwork consists of 3 sound tracks entitled;
I Have the Right (2’ 47’’)
Sounds of our Lives (3’ 51’’)
Listen In (8’ 55’’)
The Sound On! project is a collaboration between artists Dr Sinead McCann, AlanJames Burns and Saint John of God Liffey Services Ireland who provide a range of support to adults with learning disabilities. The exhibition will run for one year launching on 14 December 2021 and closing on the United Nations recognised International Day of Persons with Disabilities 3 December 2022. UK based Headway Arts, will programme the Sound On! artwork as an online sound art exhibition as part of Beautiful Difference, a project which champions the creativity of artists with learning disabilities, offering opportunities for professionalisation of their work, artistic development, digital inclusion and international networking. The sound artworks will be presented on a highly accessible website welcoming people of all abilities to experience them. A series of creative response to the artworks from artists and other professionals will be hosted on the website during the one-year exhibition, the first of these responses is by Behavioural Specialist Christina Doody. Sound On! is funded by the Arts Council of Ireland Artist in Community Scheme, managed by Create, Kildare County Council Creative Ireland Community Grant and Culture Ireland.
The artwork was developed over a six-month period through weekly on-line creative workshops, facilitated and led by artists Dr Sinead McCann and AlanJames Burns in collaboration with Aidan Winters, Conor Begley, David Carter, David Deane, Frances Quinn, Jonathan Smith, Keith Whelan, Laura Hickey, Niamh Fortune and Sean Winder who were supported to create fun and self-expressive sound artworks. Co–designers Niamh Fortune and Conor Begley worked closely with the artists to design the delivery of the Sound On! project. The composition for the sound tracks was created in collaboration with composer Conor O’Malley. The creative workshops were fully supported by Saint John of God Liffey Services support staff led by Assistive Technology facilitator Sarah Gavra Boland and Suzanne Cunningham through the SJOG Liffey Online Engage Programme. The group demonstrated many transferable skills including;
New creative and digital skills
Problem solving, perseverance, focus and receiving instruction through their ability to record their voices and sounds using accessible sound recording and editing software
Creativity and confidence while producing their independent and group sound art pieces through personal and collective expression
Self-expression, critical review and feedback, teamwork, discussion and collaboration skills
Artworks
I Have the Right
Sounds of our Lives
Listen In
Responses to the Sound On! Project
Sarah Gavra Boland, Assistive Technology Facilitator, Saint John of Community Services
The Sound On! creative project is a marvellous example of the importance of “creative partnerships” for disability services. The project took the creative skills of the two artists and the willingness to listen to the voice of the participants to create three outstanding sound art pieces. The willingness of the artists to not only say they were going to work with the participants but to have the openness to include two co-designers from the target group from the start was crucial. The three art pieces are closely linked to the Strategic Plan for Saint John of God Liffey services. Three of our priorities are particularly pertinent to this initiative:
Strategic Priority Area 2: Person-centred Service Development and Delivery – Our services and supports are determined and directed by the individual we support to achieve their potential. We supported the participants in this project to share their lived experience through a medium that was comfortable for them to control.
Under the Strategic Priority Area 3: Building Capacity and Relationships, we support, strengthen and develop the skills, competencies and abilities of individuals, families, communities, and organisations we connect with to build more inclusive communities both in person and over the last year online. During this project, the participants and the support staff all learned transferable digital skills, and it opened their world to creative, accessible online tools and resources.
This also leads into the Strategic Priority Area 4: Innovation, Quality, and Risk. We achieve relevant standards of excellence through innovation, continuous improvement, research, design and risk management.
We aim to provide the highest quality services to those who need them and are committed to supporting high-quality projects within our service with community partners. These include a diverse range of projects from innovative research in service delivery to creative collaborations that empower the individuals we support to engage meaningfully in their community in many areas such as arts, sports, education and employment. Despite Covid, the group produced three meaningful and honest sound art pieces that they were proud and delighted to share both within the service and the wider community.
In conclusion, community projects can learn a lot from the creative methodology and process that both AlanJames Burns and Dr Sinead Mc Cann executed to develop and deliver the final three sound art pieces. These will be shared for their creative appeal and as a training resource for the service as a whole. We want to express our gratitude to both Alan and Sinead for all their efforts, and we hope to work with them again soon.
Sarah Gavra Boland, Assistive Technology Facilitator, Saint John of Community Services
The Sound On! creative project is a marvellous example of the importance of “creative partnerships” for disability services. The project took the creative skills of the two artists and the willingness to listen to the voice of the participants to create three outstanding sound art pieces. The willingness of the artists to not only say they were going to work with the participants but to have the openness to include two co-designers from the target group from the start was crucial. The three art pieces are closely linked to the Strategic Plan for Saint John of God Liffey services. Three of our priorities are particularly pertinent to this initiative:
Strategic Priority Area 2: Person-centred Service Development and Delivery – Our services and supports are determined and directed by the individual we support to achieve their potential. We supported the participants in this project to share their lived experience through a medium that was comfortable for them to control.
Under the Strategic Priority Area 3: Building Capacity and Relationships, we support, strengthen and develop the skills, competencies and abilities of individuals, families, communities, and organisations we connect with to build more inclusive communities both in person and over the last year online. During this project, the participants and the support staff all learned transferable digital skills, and it opened their world to creative, accessible online tools and resources.
This also leads into the Strategic Priority Area 4: Innovation, Quality, and Risk. We achieve relevant standards of excellence through innovation, continuous improvement, research, design and risk management.
We aim to provide the highest quality services to those who need them and are committed to supporting high-quality projects within our service with community partners. These include a diverse range of projects from innovative research in service delivery to creative collaborations that empower the individuals we support to engage meaningfully in their community in many areas such as arts, sports, education and employment. Despite Covid, the group produced three meaningful and honest sound art pieces that they were proud and delighted to share both within the service and the wider community.
In conclusion, community projects can learn a lot from the creative methodology and process that both AlanJames Burns and Dr Sinead Mc Cann executed to develop and deliver the final three sound art pieces. These will be shared for their creative appeal and as a training resource for the service as a whole. We want to express our gratitude to both Alan and Sinead for all their efforts, and we hope to work with them again soon.
Core Collaborators
Sinead McCann
I am a Dublin based Artist working across the mediums of performance, video, installation and sculpture often in a context, site or community specific way. I often work collaboratively with arts and non-arts professionals to produce innovative and challenging artworks which add an artistic contribution to public debate on important social issues in modern life. I studied for my degree in Fine Art TU Dublin (00-04), and Masters of Fine Art (05-08) and Practice Based PhD Fine Art Sculpture (2009-2015) at the National College of Art and Design Dublin. I have worked part time (since 2009) in Technological University Dublin coordinating socially engaged projects across disciplines as part of the curriculum. I served on the board of directors of Common Ground 2013-2014
Recent works:
An Agreement of Silence (2021), video artwork, exploring the alliance of church, state and broader community in the conferment, exploitation and abuse of women in the Magdalene laundries in Ireland. Presented as part of the Dublin Arts and Human Rights festival, Mill theatre Dublin.
Trigger for Change (2022), a 46 minute radio documentary in collaboration with The Bridge Project Dublin 8 exploring access to employment for people with a criminal record. Funded by a research grant as part of the Engage the City programme with Dublin City Council Culture Company and Artist in Community Project Realisation Award. Broadcasting on Newtalk radio station.
Living Inside; Six stories from the history of Irish prison reform (2019), a photographic exhibition of the work of Irish photo journalist Derek Speirs, Kilmainham Jail, co curated with historian Dr Oisin Wall. Funded by the Wellcome Trust UK, and University College Dublin.
The Trial (2018), is a four channel synced video and sound installation made in collaboration with the Bridge Project Dublin 8, and University College Dublin medical historians Associate Professor Catherine Cox and Dr Fiachra Byrne. Funded by a Participation Project Award Arts Council, Community Award Dublin City Council, with further funding from University College Dublin and Wellcome Trust UK. National tour in 2019.
Health Inside (2018), a public art intervention on large scale billboards and bus shelters in Dublin 7 near Mountjoy prison, in collaboration with UCD historians Dr Oisin Wall and Associate Professor Catherine Cox. Funded by Open Call Arts Council Award.
AlanJames Burns
AlanJames Burns is a Dublin-based artist producing immersive sensory environments and event with mixed-reality technologies in site-specific locations reflecting on the inner psychological space by giving voices and consciousness to structures and systems. Burns works highly collaborative with other artists, writers, composers and technicians.
Recent projects include:
‘Open Mind, Closed System’ an interactive audio-visual artwork using a brain computer interface with generative imagery and audio, commissioned by Carlow Arts Festival 2021. An ambitious expansion of this work; ‘Augmented Body, Altered Mind’ has been commissioned by Carlow Arts Festival for their 2022 programme core funded by Arts Council Of Ireland Commissions Award and Arts and Disability Ireland Project Award.
‘Silicon Synapse’, a Virtual Reality experience conceived for the Carnegie Library in Swords, Fingal; redeveloped for JRC Milan, Italy and Bozar, Brussels, 2019; core funded by Arts Council of Ireland and jointly commissioned by Fingal Arts & European Commission.
‘Entirely hollow aside from the dark’, a sound installation produced inside caves commissioned by Fingal Arts 2016 and redeveloped for an Irish tour 2017 core funded by Arts Council of Ireland, North/South Co-Operation Fund & Creative Ireland. The first international presentation of this work took place at Creswell Cave, England, Aug 2019
Recent residencies include; Rapid Residency with Science Gallery Dublin, 2020; Research Residency with Hermes Artes Visuais, São Paulo, 2021; The Space Programme with the Performance Corporation at Tyrone Guthrie Centre 2019; Resonance Residency, JRC Milan, Italy and Seville, Spain, 2018-2020.
Sarah Gavra Boland
Sarah Gavra Boland is an Assistive Technology (AT) Facilitator and has worked with Saint John of God Community Services since 2013. Her role is to support and enhance independence with the support of technology. The aim is to build capacity in communication & learning opportunities with individuals, families and support staff on using a variety of digital and assistive technologies through a person-centred technology approach. She has been working on various local and international projects focusing on mobile technology to bridge the digital divide. Her interests include co-design through design thinking, developing, sourcing and testing accessible mobile apps and devices to support independence and inclusion. She has been the SJOG project lead on five Erasmus+ projects in the last five years.
Saint John of God Liffey Services
Saint John of God Liffey Services (SJOGLS), provide residential, respite, day and education services to children and adults with intellectual disabilities in Dublin South City, Dublin Southwest, Dublin West, and North Kildare region in Ireland. In the tradition of our founder Saint John of God and in the spirit of hospitality it is our philosophy to work in partnership with the people we support, their families, our staff, our volunteers, and our local community to achieve excellence in the delivery of supports to people and to ensure the just and equitable treatment of all people regardless of their diversity. SJOGLS are dedicated to responding and supporting the needs of individuals with disabilities, and will bring that expertise into leading the efforts of user requirements. For more information: http://sjogliffeyservices.ie/
Main funders
This project is kindly funded and supported by:
Partners
Saint John of God Community Services Liffey Services
Saint John of God Community Services Liffey Services, provide residential, respite, day and education services to children and adults with intellectual disabilities in Dublin South City, Dublin Southwest, Dublin West, and North Kildare region in Ireland.
In the tradition of our founder Saint John of God and in the spirit of Hospitality it is our philosophy to work in partnership with the people we support, their families, our staff, our volunteers, and our local community to achieve excellence in the delivery of supports to people and to ensure the just and equitable treatment of all people regardless of their diversity. SJOGCS are dedicated to responding and supporting the needs of individuals with disabilities, and will bring that expertise into leading the efforts of user requirements.
Artist in the Community
Artist in the Community is an Arts Council of Ireland Scheme Managed by Create enabling artists and communities to work together to develop collaborative artworks. It is essential that consultation take place between the artist and the community, so that both parties are involved in deciding on the nature of the project’s realisation and to encourage meaningful collaboration between communities and artists.
News
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Contact
All enquirers to artists@soundon.ie
Press
For further information, press release and images, please click below