Muscling in on the realities of beef breeding
MARIA McKinney’s work ‘Double Muscle’ puts the Belgian Blue Bull in to focus in an 11-minute video and was winner of an outstanding achievement award at the Carlow exhibition.
The video installation, which was filmed at Dovea Genetics in Dublin, depicts a Belgian Blue bull wearing a concoction of semen straws on its back.
She says she wanted the piece to start a conversation around breeding and genetics.
“This double muscle of the Belgian blue bull has been created through years and years of breeding,” says Maria ( above), who is originally from Inishowen in Donegal.
“I wanted to show how genetics are used in livestock and I wanted to be direct and upfront and confronting and wanted the animal to be very much present in the piece.
“I thought of the connection between how the Belgian Blue is sculptured genetically and how much sculpturing has been done to get its genetics over the years.”
While Maria explains that the animalsimals are “well cared for” at Dovea Genetics, she wanted to communicate to consumers and non-farmers where their food comes from.
“I wanted to make consumers aware of the life of the animal and to capture the lived experience of the Belgian Blue and shock them a little bit I guess,” she says.
Maria says the idea to use semen straws in her work began in 2011 when she made garlands from the straws for the local Carndonagh Show in Donegal.
She later made contact with Dovea at the National Ploughing Championships who were interested in doing a project with her, and she was helped by Teagasc’s Dr Donagh Berry and UCD professors David MacHugh and Michael Doherty.
Maria is not from a farming background, but says her rural upbringing has influenced her work.
“My parents weren’t farmers but my grandparents were. I would’ve herded neighbours’ sheep and cattle,” she says.
“I wasn’t a stranger to farming so it would always have been a part of my work and I hope to do another project on cultured meat and the affect that would have on the cattle industry worldwide.”