The PLOT is part of a broader public art inquiry which considered actions that could be taken concerning farming, food consumption and the current ecological and climate crises. It was the first of the artist’s Sustainment Experiments and ran until 2024.
The PLOT began with a potato ridge planting with the Loy Association of Ireland in the shape of a hexagram, produced in response to a question put to the I Ching an ancient Chinese divination system. Asked ‘What is the future of sustainable food production in Ireland’, the answer was given in the form of a hexagram (15) and reproduced in ridges:
Modesty creates success. Balance and adjust things by cutting through pride and complication. Reduce what is overdeveloped. Don’t try to advance yourself. Beware of conceit and arrogance. Be consistent and resilient. Don’t follow policy. Do the right thing.
The potatoes were harvested in 2021, and a crop that points a way to a more sustainable systems of animal husbandry, was planted in the footprint of the ridges. Sainfoin – an animal fodder, once widely grown in Europe – fell out of use with the industrialisation of agriculture. It grows in drought conditions, fixes nitrogen in the soil, reduces methane emissions in cattle, increases protein uptake in animals, and is an anti-parasitic of particular benefit for sheep, who are all but immune to most wormers. Sainfoin is loved by bees, cultivated in France precisely because of the highly prized honey from the flowers.
Sainfoin was also the subject of O’Mahony’s film Speculative Optimism. A sister project, The PLOT 2, was made for the Gangwon Triennale, Korea, in 2021. O’Mahony programmed a series of talks on sainfoin and other kinds of fodder crops that benefit biodiversity in 2022. Paul Totterdell of Cotswold Seeds’ presentation slides can be seen here and an account of the event by Caitriona Devery here.
The PLOT was produced and supported by VISUAL Carlow, and cared for by Keith Bowe and Derek Blanche.
A sister project PLOT 11 was produced for the Gangwon Triennale Korea in 2021.
