MORPHOTEQUE #15

DRIESSENS & VERSTAPPEN

Netherlands 2011

WOULD YOU EAT THESE?

Crops that are cultivated for large-scale food production have been selectively bred to produce increasingly large and regular-shaped foods. While the natural process of evolution usually engenders multiformity and diversity so that a species remains strong and adaptive, industry manipulates the process as much as possible in a direction of efficiency, uniformity and homogeneity. The ideal potato is now oval-round, the ideal carrot is straight, not curved, and the ideal pepper is perfectly symmetrical. Vegetables that do not meet the set standards cannot be sold to consumers, so we rarely see any deviations from these ‘perfect’ forms at the supermarket. We typically associate ‘imperfection’ with disease, degeneration and ugliness. Morphoteque #15 reflects the human urge for ‘perfection’ through standardisation, by conserving rejected peppers and highlighting the natural diversity within a species.

ABOUT

Driessens & Verstappen jointly develop a multifaceted body of work, which includes software, machines and objects. Sources of inspiration include the complex dynamics of all kinds of physical and chemical processes and the genetic-evolutionary system of organic life that continuously creates new and original forms. Driessens & Verstappen have exhibited at a.o. Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen Rotterdam, Neue Pinakothek München, Science Gallery Dublin and Eyebeam New York. Their work was awarded first prize at VIDA in Spain in 2002 and the 2013 dutch Art+Technology Award.

CONNECT

Website: driessensverstappen.nl