About
Living Rhythms is the participatory arts practice of Heather Griffin and Patrick Mulvihill, working at the intersection of art, design and futures. We bring communities of place and interest together to imagine what alternative narratives and realities might emerge. Through speculation, worlding, play and experiential learning, we present visions of the world, grounded in lived experience, mythologies, social phenomena and the rhythms of everyday life.
Our process is research-led and iterative. Beginning with sustained, embedded engagement, deep listening and conversation, gathering oral histories, field recordings and situated knowledge as primary material. An ethic of care guides our practice, our engagements are consent-based and non-extractive, holding complexity rather than needing to resolve it. We're drawn to histories and experiences that have been flattened or erased, and to how they continue to shape the present, resisting linear progress narratives that decide whose future counts.
Our work is interdisciplinary, informed by people, place and ecologies and is expressed through audio visual works, installation, performance, radio and writing. Sound is central to our practice for its power to immerse and draw listeners into other worlds, creating the conditions for attentiveness, connection and new imaginaries to emerge.
Living Rhythms has written, designed, recorded and performed a number of live and immersive audio experiences and installations. These works have been commissioned by and delivered in collaboration with and exhibited in, IMMA, Science Gallery Dublin, Highlanes Gallery, Hunt Museum, Hometree, The Heritage Council, Creative Ireland, Workhouse Union , The Arts Council, London Design Festival, Istanbul Biennial, Bijlmer Museum, British Film Institute (BFI), Open Set Amsterdam and Perform Istanbul.
A Giant Leap, commissioned by Science Gallery Dublin, was described as ‘one of their most impactful projects in recent years’ sparking the imagination of their global audience’.
Living Rhythms also has a monthly residence on Éist. The radio show sonically explores the time & place rhythms of everyday life. Éist is a digital community radio collective based in Cork city.
A full list of our commissions and awards can be viewed .