Disagreements

Disagreement i, Archival pigment print, 101.6cm x 81.2cm Ed 5. /  50.8cm x 40.6cm Ed 8, 2018

from left:
Disagreement iv, Disagreement ii, Disagreement iii, Disagreement v, 2018

Disagreement iii, Archival pigment print, 101.6cm x 81.2cm Ed 5. /  50.8cm x 40.6cm Ed 8, 2018

Disagreement ii, Archival pigment print, 101.6cm x 81.2cm Ed 5. /  50.8cm x 40.6cm Ed 8, 2018

Disagreement iii, and  Disagreement v, Stormont Estate, Belfast, 2018

Disagreement iv, Archival pigment print, 66cm x 81.2cm Ed 5. / 40.6cm x 30.5cm Ed 8, 2019​​​​​​​

a black and white abstract photograph of hanging ivy in the stormont estate in northern ireland by Martin Seeds

Disagreement iv, Archival pigment print, 66cm x 81.2cm Ed 5. / 40.6cm x 30.5cm Ed 8, 2019​​​​​​​

a black and white abstract photograph of a small tree in the stormont estate in northern ireland by martin seeds

Disagreement vi, Archival pigment print, 66cm x 81.2cm Ed 5. / 40.6cm x 30.5cm Ed 8, 2018

a black and white abstract photograph of ferns on a river bank in the stormont estate in northern ireland by martin seeds

Disagreement x, Archival pigment print, 101.6cm x 81.2cm Ed 5. /  50.8cm x 40.6cm Ed 8, 2018

a black and white abstract photograph of a small tree in the stormont estate in northern ireland by martin seeds

Disagreement viii, Archival pigment print, 66cm x 81.2cm Ed 5. / 40.6cm x 30.5cm Ed 8​​​​​​, 2018

a black and white abstract photograph of a small tree in the stormont estate in northern ireland by martin seeds

Disagreement xi, Archival pigment print, 101.6cm x 81.2cm Ed 5. /  50.8cm x 40.6cm Ed 8, 2019

a black and white abstract photograph of a small tree in the stormont estate in northern ireland by martin seeds

Disagreement ix, Archival pigment print, 66cm x 81.2cm Ed 5. / 40.6cm x 30.5cm Ed 8, 2018​​​​​​​

a black and white abstract negative photograph of fir tree branches in the Stormont estate in northern ireland martin seeds

Disagreement v, Archival pigment print, 53.8cm x 81.2cm Ed 5 /  26.7cm x 40.6cm Ed 8, 2018

Disagreement xii, Archival pigment print, editions 66cm x 81.2cm Ed 5. / 40.6cm x 30.5cm Ed 8.​​​​​​, 2022

Disagreement xvii, Archival pigment print, 66cm x 81.2cm Ed 5. / 40.6cm x 30.5cm Ed 8, 2023​​​​​​​

Disagreements is a response to the Northern Ireland Assembly's failure to negotiate the contrasting political viewpoints that have created a difficult and seemingly unresolvable political landscape. The works are made in the public grounds of the Stormont Estate, which surround the Parliament building.
2017 - political power-sharing in the Northern Ireland Assembly collapsed.  The reasons for the failure are complex and although not directly related to historical disagreements, these soon rose to the surface. The resulting ideological and cultural impasse has destabilised the province and raised doubts about the Good Friday Agreements’ viability as a framework for governance.   
2018 -  the twenty year anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement passed uneventfully whilst the Assembly borne from it was silent. The prospect of a future Assembly has been twisted by and into the outcome of BREXIT. 
2020 - 3 years after power sharing collapsed, the Northern Ireland Assembly  has resumed  under the same complex and fragile model of governance that contributed to its failure. 
2022 - The Northern Ireland Assembly collapses due to one party's protest over the Northern Ireland Protocol. The protocol was negotiated as part of the UK/EU BREXIT agreement, and places a trade border in the Irish Sea. One section of the community believes this economic border undermines their British identity. The political party that also holds this view has refused to return to government until the protocol is scrapped. 
2023 - Despite refinements to the Northern Ireland protocol, 'The Windsor Deal', 'The Stormont Break', the disagreements continue and the Assembly is unable to function.
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