Christopher Steenson’s work spans sound, lens-based media, text and digital systems. Through these processes, he makes work in which we can ‘listen to the future’, by bridging historical and speculative narratives that explore the politics of time, environment and more-than-human-relations.
ARTIST BIO
Christopher Steenson (b.1992, Northern Ireland) began his artistic practice in 2017, with his work manifesting as several site-specific sound works, installations and performances. Steenson’s recent solo presentations include: 'Breath Variations’, Flat Time House, London (2023); ‘Let it run all over me’, Lagan Weir, Belfast, in association with PS2 (2023); 'Soft Rains Will Come', VISUAL Carlow (2022); TULCA Festival of Visual Arts: The World Was All Before Them (2022). He has presented work at group exhibitions including: ‘The Sky is Falling!’, Ormston House, Limerick (2024); 'mother tongue', The MAC, Belfast (2024); 'inching towards', Freelands Foundation, London (2024); ‘Penumbra’, LAVA, Mexico City (2024); ‘Periodical Review 12: Practical Magic’, Pallas Projects/Studios, Dublin (2022); and ‘Urgencies’, CCA Derry~Londonderry (2021).
In 2020, Steenson presented ‘On Chorus’ a national public sound artwork utilising Ireland’s network of train station PA systems. In 2023, he created the geolocated sound walk, ‘Almanac for a Walled City’, for Derry’s historic city walls. He has participated in several national and international residencies, including Bemis Centre for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, USA (2023); and Sounding Paths, Syros, Greece (2019). His work is held in the Arts Council of Ireland Collection.
Above: Belfast Newsletter, 22 July 1995, p. 17, Christopher Steenson, 2024, screenprint on paper made from grass where the corncrake used to call. Edition of 3 + 3 AP. 19.5 × 13.5 cm (unframed). Installation view, ‘The Sky is Falling!’, Ormston House, Limerick, Ireland, 2024. Photograph by Jed Niezgoda, courtesy the artist and Ormston House.
Top left: The Long Grass, Christopher Steenson, Installation view, ‘mother tongue’, The MAC, Belfast (26 April – 1 July 2024), Photograph by Simon Mills, courtesy the artist.
Let it run all over me, Christopher Steenson, 2023, 4-channel site-specific sound work with horse skull, theatre lighting, field recordings and resonances. Installation view, Lagan Weir Underwater Tunnel. Photograph by Simon Mills, courtesy the artist.
TITLE
I actually can’t be sure of where he was
ARTIST
Christopher Steenson
ABOUT THE WORK
In 2022, Christopher Steenson was invited by Ormston House, Limerick, to participate in a research residency focusing on the conservational status of the corncrake in Ireland. Once prosperous and widespread across Ireland and Britain, the corncrake was known as the sound of the Irish summer, with its distinctive call permeating the countryside’s soundscape. The corncrake is now almost extinct, due to the rapid development in mechanised farming over the last fifty years. The bird’s call is now only heard in remote sections of Ireland’s west coast.
Steenson’s research included field trips to conservation areas, field recording and interviews with family members. Some of this research also included searches through newspapers archives, which form the basis for the four screenprints for sale as part of Uphold.
A blown out and obscured image of a corncrake, taken from an article featured in Western People from June 2009 was used as the basis for this work.
DATE
2024
DIMENSIONS
29.7cm x 21 cm
MEDIUM
Screenprint on black Fabriano (300gsm)
ORIGINAL WORK / EDITION
Edition of 15
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Christopher Steenson (b.1992, Northern Ireland) work spans sound, lens-based media, text and digital systems. Through these processes, he seeks to make work in which we can ‘listen to the future’, by bridging historical and speculative narratives that interrogate the politics of time, environment and more-than-human-relations.
DELIVERY AND POSTAGE
Shipping cost will be quoted and confirmed via email. When your order has been placed we will be in touch with you to discuss the best options for shipping your purchase.
FRAMING
This work comes unframed.
Photograph by Jed Niezgoda, courtesy the artist and Ormston House.
Soft Rains Will Come, Christopher Steenson, 2022, Installation view, VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art, Carlow, Ireland, Photograph by Ros Kavanagh, courtesy of the artist and the Arts Council of Ireland Visual Art Collection.
Using transmission signals, broadcasting equipment, architectural resonances and public and personal archives, Steenson’s artworks take various forms but always seek to locate audiences within a ‘dreamtime’ – a space in which pasts, presents and futures are negotiated on a continuum.
I never thought something like that could happen here, Christopher Steenson, 2022, hand-printed c-type print on archival photo paper. Installation view, VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art, Carlow, Ireland. Photograph by Frank Abruzzese, courtesy the artist and the Arts Council of Ireland Visual Art Collection.
