Veg

One of the comments in the feedback session was experimenting with other types of vegetables, which I had begun but found the cabbage leaves to be more interesting so I had focussed on those. The point stands, other ungrievable and beautiful forms may be found from organic matter and I had a look round the supermarket to see what could cast well.

I realise the work becomes little more than a rhetorical device at this point as casting freshly purchased vegetables for the purposes of art making around circularity isn’t exactly bang on point but I am still learning about the process and ideas around the work. Rhetorical devices are also valid forms of expressions and whilst these specific cabbages have never seen the inside of a compost heap, they speak to a wider awareness of food cycles and Earth connectivity.

After the remark about privilege in my work that annoyed me so intensely, I am now putting my head willingly on the chopping block with a range of fancy vegetables, as root veg just doesn’t seem to appeal to modern tastes and some are so beautiful. In many ways Chinese Leaf lettuce, Chicory and Globe Artichokes are just the point, where on Earth (literally) did these more designer variations come from and I wonder about their provenance. Is this more wasteful, slavish use of invention for the purposes of profit than a kind and quiet conversation with something Nature has gifted?

I have an interview next week and I need more castings to offer so I am going to spend a few days experimenting with these beauties. I have corn, various types of cabbabge and lettuces and the various mentioned above.