Food production and processing is a scientific, sometimes social event that involves more than hunger and thirst alone. Six artists are investigating the transformation processes involved. What are the ecological, energetic and social consequences and can alternative cycles of food processing be devised?
Stichting SIGN, November 11, 2022, - January 8, 2023
EXTESTINES consists of two conceptual blueprints, which each explore the
theme of making our innards into ‘outards’.
Despite being a crucial element in our continued existence, the physicality of
our mushy internal organs remain grotesque and alienating to us. Guts are
disgusting, regardless of the fact they facilitate intricate and crucial processes
such as digestion, respiration, and excretion with an efficiency that is as yet
unmatched by our industrial society.
Photos by Jedidja Smalbil
URINATION SYSTEM
URINATION SYSTEM demonstrates a circular system, wherein a subject sits on a toilet,
above which a large tank of water, fed continuously by the mains water
supply, is suspended. Through a narrow tube, the subject drinks water at a
slow but consistent pace. It takes roughly 5-10 minutes for water to be
digested, after which water will be expelled via urination at a similarly
consistent pace, minus the liquid which was absorbed by the body. The
body becomes a water transport pipe, and the intestines are fully saturated
with liquid at every stage.
The performance concludes when the water that has been expelled by the
subject has made a complete circuit through the local wastewater treatment facility.
VISCERA
VISCERA consists of a salmon which has been turned completely inside out in a
mathematically possible, yet practically impossible process. The work is
inspired by sphere eversion as first described by the mathematician
Stephen Smale in 1957, wherein proof was discovered that a sphere could
be turned inside out without creasing or making a whole in the surface of
the sphere. The body cavity of the fish will be considered the ‘inside’. Once the salmon
is inside-out, everyone in Sign Gallery, Groningen, The Netherlands, and the
world will, strictly speaking, now be inside the salmon. Instead of being a
commodified produce, the salmon now contains the entire universe.
