The Model Plot at the Irish Museum of Modern Art is the final iteration of O’Mahony’s PLOT series, developed in collaboration with the Loy Association of Ireland and currently being exhibited as part of IMMA’s Permanent Collection exhibition, Art as Agency. The Model Plot runs from April to August 2025.
The original project The Village Plot was also developed at IMMA in 2016. This was followed by PLOT I (2021) for VISUAL, Carlow. A sister project, PLOT II (2021), planted with buckwheat, featured at the Gangwon Triennale. More recently, MODEL PLOT (2022) was developed for Brookfield farm, highlighting the potato ridge, a technology evolving from a historic need for food security in Ireland’s past and herb and forage crops that point a way to climate resilience in farming. Coming full circle, The Model Plot (2025) has been adapted for IMMA and added to the museum collection.
A sculptural planting experiment in collective knowledge, shared skills, and communal output, exploring sustainable ways to interact with the earth, the work considers future food security, biodiversity and performative action in the face of climate change. It leans on alternative forms of knowledge and historically inherited technology to highlight the small actions that can be taken by everyone to grow food and sustain pollinators, soil and the environment. In this iteration, the ridges have been planted with three types of blight resistant organic potatoes (Levante, Alouette and Vitanoire) and the spaces within the perimeter of the planting interspersed with companion flowers (Marigold and Nasturtium) and cabbage crops (Gortahork Cabbage); a combination agreed with the museum and gardening staff at IMMA
This work is developed in collaboration with members of The Loy Association of Ireland and supported by students from the Horticulture Course at Inchicore College.
Photographs by Ros Kavanagh courtesy of IMMA
