Christopher Steenson 'The Long Grass' (2022-2024) | Documentation, The MAC, Belfast 2024

The Long Grass (2022-2024) takes on a myriad of perspectives to focus on issues encompassing nature conservation, contested land use, (post-)colonial identity and belonging. The artwork’s subject matter stems from artist Christopher Steenson’s long-term research surrounding the corncrake - a bird that has taken on symbolic meaning in relation to Irish Independence, and has now become almost extinct, due to the rapid development in mechanised farming over the last 50 years.
Once prosperous and widespread across Ireland and the UK, the corncrake was known as the sound of the Irish summer, with its distinctive call (from which it was given the Latin name crex crex originates) permeating the countryside’s soundscape. The corncrake’s call is now largely missing, only to be heard in remote sections of Ireland’s west coast; areas that are closely linked with the Irish language (known as the Gaeltacht). For The long grass, Steenson has followed conservationists from Corncrake LIFE, who have been working with local communities in the west of Ireland to restore corncrake habitat and change farming practices that affect the bird’s chances of survival.
The Long Grass takes the form of a 35mm slide projection, consisting of text and photographic elements. The work draws together phrases and moments stemming from field research, alongside texts from oral histories of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, interviews with family members, and the National Folklore Collection. These sources - which sometimes originate from oppositional points of view - present a multitude of experiences, ranging from Irish farmers feelings towards the EU, to second-hand recollections of army patrols during the Northern Ireland conflict, and memories of hearing the corncrake. Presented together, and with their original provenance removed, these seemingly contrasting voices summate to create universal and shared meanings.
The use of asterisms - which punctuate the different sections of the work - reinforces the anonymity of the texts’ sources, whilst also locating the work within the seasonal cycle of corncrake, who use an imprinted map of the stars to guide their migratory patterns. The corncrake’s call is heard in a space adjacent to the artwork, playing in synchronicity with endpoint of each slide projection cycle. Listened to in this way, the bird’s call serves as a gesture towards calls for freedom, to and from distant places.