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ARTSDESK SOUND OUT Sound artist Christopher Steen
son set about recording the sounds of nature during lockdown. ‘On Chorus’ is his response and attempt to connect people through the power of listening. words Tom Lordan photos Louis Haugh Christopher Steenson is a sound artist who moves between Dublin, Belfast and Kerry. His new project On Chorus is a striking work of public art that used Dublin’s transport infrastructure to convey the sound of birdsong. Throughout the month of November, Steenson’s piece was played every morning through PA systems for an hour. The chorus reverberated around quiet railway stations and winter-chilled platforms, transfixing commuters and workers alike. In response to the restrictions of the second lockdown, Steenson and Ian Maleney collaborated on a website so that the piece could play alongside its live installation. Though the installation has come to a close, the website still produces an hour’s worth of natural song every morning which everyone can access and soundtrack their own ramblings to. “I’ve always been interested in sound,” says Steenson. “I even started a PhD at one point, which was to do with auditory perception and movement control – how people use sound to guide and manage their orientation in space. Why is it natural to dance to music? How is a blind person able to walk down a street? I was researching those kinds of questions.” “During that time, I learned how to record sound in different environments, some computer programming, and a lot about auditory perception. I became more and more involved in experimental sound events. There’s a really nice community in Belfast for that – there’s the Sonic Arts Research Centre, which is a fantastic hub. I had a number of friends who were studying there, so I ended up doing a lot of events with them.” “I’m grateful for the time I spent in academia. I did the PhD for a few years, but ultimately I realised it wasn’t for me.” Steenson’s art is characterised by an interest in surplus and environmental sound. He completed a residency in Greece last year, where he spent time recording noise pollution underwater using hydrophones. “The ocean is full of manmade sounds, which makes sense as water is a better conductor for sound to travel through than air.” He has also been researching how to use sound as a device for the detection of pollution. “Sound isn’t just a by-product; it can be used to reveal what’s around us. 5G conspiracies to one side, electromagnetic pollution has increased dramatically in the last decade because of WiFi and cellular masts. You can use magnetic pick-ups to demodulate the electromagnetic frequency into sound.” The artist had been working on a piece utilising birdsong for a show that was cancelled in Belfast. Returning to Dublin from New York at the beginning of lockdown in April, he found his interest in the material was renewed. “My partner and I live in Dublin 1, right beside Connolly Station, and it was very weird to hear no traffic in the house. I noticed the sound of birds immediately. You could hear them so clearly, which I think was an experience shared by many. And because it was spring, the dawn chorus was much more pronounced,” says Steenson, referring to the fact that birds enter their mating season and find new territories to live in during this period. “For a few mornings, in March or April, I got up at 4am and went for a walk down the Royal 52