Open Collections

Abstract

Technology is increasingly altering the world’s natural landscapes in permanent and often irreparable ways. The shift towards more efficient, and productive modes of producing food for example, has changed both our relationship with, and understanding of our landscapes and the products we consume. As we progressively remove ourselves from the production process of the things we consume, the environments we choose to or are compelled to live in, are becoming increasingly abstract. In addition, there is a perpetual need to produce more food to help tackle global challenges such as the global food crisis by providing alternative, more efficient ways to not only produce, but also consume food. While well-intended and certainly ambitious, such growing procedures often fail to address the social, cultural and spiritual importance of food, as well as the resultant landscapes created. Thus the goal of the project is two fold: First, it seeks to explore what happens to existing landscapes and people once technologies replaced both; secondly, the project investigates how food is not only a biological necessity, a product valued only for its end use, but rather one that has built and shaped cultures, landscapes, and the essential understanding of life.