Meatán
Curated by Pluck Project Midsummer Festival Visual Arts Curators in Residence Fall/Out Programme for 2021
Sited in the Port of Cork, Meatán an immersive living sculpture referenced live deportation of cattle from Cork and draws on processes proposed by industry to counter the environmental impact of cattle farming. This work developed from research into one of the Argentinean government's solutions to the climate emergency: a balloon that collects methane gas emitted from cows. It is an invasive process, involving the insertion of a pipe into the side of a cow to reach its rumen, creating a hybrid between animal and machine that speaks to the agricultural industry's relationship to global warming. The 'living' sculpture takes the form of a balloon made from specially screen printed cattle feedbags, which will inflate and deflate slowly over the course of the festival.
A participatory installation, Meatán prompts us to examine the ways in which climate change impacts our imaginations.
Supported by Cork City Arts Project Award,2021
A written response by Laurence Counihan
Laurence Counihan is an Irish-Filipino writer and critic, who is currently a PhD candidate and teaching assistant with the History of Art department at University College Cork. His research is located at the intersection between art, technology and continental philosophy.
Photography ; Jed Niezgoda
Black light illuminates invisible marks that release emissions of ultra violet light.
Cows urine is a liquid that gives off these florescent emissions
At night the installation took on a whole new aesthetic, shining bright, making visible marks unseen. The trace left behind by visitors who had been invited to activate the work, leaving their invisible mark on the installation.
Photographer_David Hegarty
Day #1
Day #2
