An Overview

For my first project, I created a primitive art installation piece using a refrigerator, various household items, and a portable DVD player. By placing visibly stained and inedible foodstuffs in the fridge, along with video footage of various animals in the stages of preparation for consumption, followed by more violent images of injury done to humans, I hoped to make the following question impossible to ignore—at least for a time: At what point should we finally take accountability for the negative consequences of our conveniences? Must we wait to raise our awareness until everything we consume is literally marked—in this case, marked black—by their cost?

Old Cause vs New Cause

The relationship between us and the objects of our consumption is problematic for two reasons: 1) We tend to fail to recognize anything beyond the immediate cost of things from an individualistic frame of mind (i.e. A shirt from Urban Outfitters costs $30. Other costs, such as labor, the environmental inefficiency of cotton are forgotten); 2) The causal system in an age of post-modernity is no longer what it was formerly, and we tend to think inaccurately in terms of the old way.

As I'm presenting, I pour a glass of black water on the rocks. Photograph by Joe Lopez.

The second part of the video shows violence against humans in the most systematic form: war. It may seem a bit farfetched to suppose our getting a bite to eat causes large-scale deaths, but perhaps a causal web, rather than a linnear chain, can account for this:

I eat meat or consume dairy regularly. » I support the meat/dairy industry. » They distribute most of the educational materials about dieting, which leads to large-scale mis-education. » More people, because they lack the proper information are less healthy. » Rate of heart disease escalates. » More people die from something preventable. » Pharmaceutical companies capitalize on this need and invent drugs. » These drugs cause side effects, and also leave pollutants in the environment (Anti-depressants found in water supply, for example) » All goods require transport and vehicles. » We depend on oil/gas. » Foreign policymakers and businesses exploit other countries. » This demand for energy plays a significant role in decisions to go to war. » We indirectly support violence through meat consumption, which contributes to a more general acceptance of violence. » Other forms of violence, such as the battery of women, become more tolerable. » War is more easily justified, and atrocities go unquestioned.

The old way:

Actions have one-to-one effects, almost like physical laws. (Ex: I punch you in the face. I injure you; or I as an employer pay you less because you're an African American. I affect direcly your economic well-being.)

The new way:

The predominant pattern of causation is no longer linnear, but instead takes on a viral, or rhizomial character. Actions cause multiple events, disperse, and their effects become almost untraceable. It becomes more difficult to identify the exact effects of our actions; this difficulty, however, doesn't give us license to neglect responsibility.

The video begins with the first model, as it shows what goes into the commodification of meat. The causal chain could be something like this: I eat meat or consume dairy regularly. » I support the slaughtering of animals, de-beaking of chickens, crating of veal, etc. » Conditions for livestock and those working in the industry continue to worsen.

The Method

Using some good old-fashioned food coloring, I was able to discolor the items I included in the fridge display: bread, cheese, turkey slices, corn, ice cubes, pickles, milk, and others.

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This project seems to suggest that we can't look at poilitics, human rights, health, environmental concerns, and education independent of each other.

(The refrigerator I used is probably still somewhere in the ActLab. If you know of its whereabouts, perhaps you could let me know.)