Artist Statement
“This piece is a visualization of the imbalance of the current food system. Each pair of vegetables depicts the difference between industrially and locally grown food. At the grocery store, if there is one available, fresh produce is too expensive to buy with SNAP or EBT, while a farm-stand can make these products accessible to everyone. Additionally, small-scale produce production outputs more “weighty” or nutritious vegetables.
Wire frame, four levels, produce hung by s-shaped hooks, imbalance. Four kinds of vegetables: green bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, and snap peas. Unhook one, feel its weight, and shake it. Then compare it to its counter-part. You may be surprised by what you experience.
When thinking of what to submit, I wanted to represent what I have learned working on a farm for the past two summers about the value of seasonal locally grown food that is accessible. The purpose of this piece is to scrutinize the faults within today’s food system, specifically expectations surrounding what food is found in the grocery store. The unrealistic expectation of purchasing the same product consistently at any time of year and the subsequent nutritional failure of industrially grown agriculture. Taking into consideration also, that a grocery store is not always available. The”perfectly” shaped and colored vegetables represent commercially-grown produce of grocery-store quality, while the “uglier” vegetables are examples of locally-grown produce found at a farm stand. The “less perfect” vegetables weigh more. If you remove a vegetable from its hook and shake it, the sound it makes, either a full-bodied rattle or an empty one is an indication of the value of the product.”
Artist Bio
“My name is Lis Sundberg and I am originally from Sarasota, FL. When I was twelve, my Quaker youth group and I took an immersion visit to Immokalee, FL to learn about the despicable conditions that the farmworkers picking the tomatoes in that region work under. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a farmworker-led advocacy group, gave me my first introduction to food justice, which resulted in a multi-year alliance between our group and them and an internship for me the summer between high school and college. I have spent the past two summers working at Sprouting Farms in Talcott, WV and plugging into the education and food access work in operation there. I am currently a junior at Bard College majoring in Human Rights and Studio Arts. With this major I am seeking ways to create art that is both activating and educational in nature. I want my art to include the audience as part of the piece by engaging them in participational pedagogy.”