2008
TRADE Residency with Alfredo Jaar
Site-specific Interventions and Exhibition The Dock Carrick-on-Shannon Co. Leitrim
One-off project award-The Arts Council of Ireland
This work proposes practical and redemptive tactics towards man-made structures and surfaces through the planting of native Irish wild-flower seeds. These ‘micro-wildernesses’, support a critical investigation of global seed production and
creates a platform for environmental issues materialized through civic actions and movements on the land.
Trade-off: A public exchange programme consisting of a designed limited edition of seed-bags available for the wider community. These bags consist of seed-balls made from a combination of ‘daub’- Leitrim clay, seeds (Code EC07 Wild Flora for Drumlins and Cuttings) water and seaweed fertilizer. Accompanied also with a double-sided leaflet that makes an attempts to map the global seed industry. Included are the instructions for the planting of seeds and the necessary requirements by the public to complete this project. A contract was signed between the individual and myself on condition of accepting this exchange.
Screen-work: A further development of this project included a video projection of accumulated text and image’s related to the seed industry.
Planting and seed-collection (ongoing): Since May I have been planting a number of sites in Carrick-on-Shannon. These ranged from existing structures such as a roundabout, pavement cracks, walls, phone-box, uncompleted building sites and plant-holders in the town. The final site is an abandoned ‘waste-land’ owned by Tesco’s who had original planned to build a petrol station (but this was refused planning permission). Most of the sites are small-scale except for the last site mentioned. Subsequently the main sites that I had planted were destroyed by a number of factors; chemical spray, cut down by Council officials and bulldozed for urban development. The work titled: Aggressive localism’ is a narrative of the planting process and its ultimate fate.