FORAGERS

ANTHONY DUNNE & FIONA RABY

The world is running out of food—we need to produce 70% more food in the next 40 years according to the UN. Yet we continue to over-populate the planet, use up resources and ignore all the warning signs. It is completely unsustainable. In this scenario, a group of people take their fate into their own hands and start building DIY devices. They use synthetic biology to create ‘microbial stomach bacteria’, along with electronic and mechanical devices, to maximise the nutritional value of the urban environment, making-up for any shortcomings in the commercially available but increasingly limited diet. These people are the new urban foragers.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Anthony Dunne is Professor and Head of the Design Interactions department at the Royal College of Art in London. Fiona Raby studied Architecture at the RCA before working for Kei’ichi Irie Architects in Tokyo. Their work has been exhibited and published internationally and is in the permanent collections of MoMA, the Victoria & Albert Museum as well as several private collections. Dunne & Raby use design as a medium to stimulate discussion and debate amongst designers, industry and the public about the social, cultural and ethical implications of existing and emerging technologies.