Art and Farming 2009- 12

The Museum of Contemporary Farming: an impossible project 

Georgina Barney with Alice Carey, in development


Photograph by Alice Carey showing an agricultural diorama in  
the Science Museum, London


How is the Countryside Sold? 

Georgina Barney with Alice Carey and Matthew Hoyland, 2011-2012

Featured in ‘Always Greener: Views of the Contemporary Countryside’ curated by 
Rosemary Shirley at the Pitzhanger Morris Gallery, London, 2012. 

Commissioned by Radar Arts, Loughborough University for Green Days, and 
supported by the European Cultural Foundation. 


How is the Countryside Sold? is an installation which may include some of the 
following: a historic livestock portrait; film ‘Walkin’ Progress’ by pig farmer and 
photographer Matthew Hoyland showing a walk from his farm to the nearest 
supermarket; a Nat West collectible piggy bank and accompanying research 
material; timeline; a life‐size drawing of a bull; mobile phone films showing the 
Blackbrook Longhorns, a prize‐winning herd of Longhorn cattle. 
 
The installation draws upon research into the legacy of the agricultural revolution.  
In the eighteenth century, at Dishley Grange near Loughborough in Leicestershire, 
Robert Bakewell pioneered new breeding methods to develop the modern farm 
animal.  Today, a farm close to the site of Bakewell’s experiments is home to both 
the Blackbrook Longhorn herd of cattle and the Blackbrook Gallery.  Dealing in 
historic livestock portraiture, the gallery is testament to Bakewell’s contribution to 
modern agricultural science in a period of rapid progress.  Meanwhile, Blackbrook’s 
prize‐winning Longhorns, Bakewell’s favoured breed embody his legacy in the 
aesthetic pursuit of breeders.  In the display of idealised profiles, farming returns to 
art.



Installation view of How is the Countryside Sold? showing ‘Walkin’ Progress’
by Matthew Hoyland and in the background work and documentation 
by James Ireland and MyVillages 

Installation view of How is the Countryside Sold? showing a research station, 
framed drawing by Georgina Barney, and 'Ayrshire Cow' by Sam Spode 
(op. 1825 - 58)
Photograph by Georgina Barney showing Alice Carey and Pat Stanley 
with the Blackbrook Longhorns, 2011


Farming Fiction 

Georgina Barney with Alice Carey, 2010 

Commissioned by Sideshow 2010 and supported by the National Farmers’ Union 

Farming Fiction is a map of the county of Nottinghamshire.  The images and text on the publication come from a series of discussions with farmers in location about a series of poems. The map was launched in the city of Nottingham in the company of a public audience and the policy maker Caroline Spelman MP, DEFRA Secretary. Farmers re‐read the poem they had discussed with Georgina Barney. After a public discussion the audience responded with new ‘poem‐policies’, re‐imagining farming for the future.


Farming Fiction copy of map design (poster side) by Toby Lea at the NFU 
with Georgina Barney


Farming Fiction audience response cards 



Images courtesy Sideshow, 2010