The Industrialized Agricultural System: Corn, Candy, Disease, and Dependence

Location

CSU 203

Start Date

18-4-2016 1:05 PM

End Date

18-4-2016 2:05 PM

Student's Major

Art

Student's College

Arts and Humanities

Mentor's Name

Josh Winkler

Mentor's Department

Art

Mentor's College

Arts and Humanities

Description

There are many pitfalls of the industrial agriculture system including disease, fossil fuel dependence, pesticide use, and the lack of sustainability. As an artist, I chose to discuss these issues through imagery. Printmaking, by way of the “multiple original,” allows for the distribution of my images and their commentary unto a broad audience, generating social consciousness. The process of photo-lithography enables me to work in layers of color and hand- drawn imagery, resulting in lush visual narratives. These artworks address the relationships between the living and the chemical, the artificial and the grotesque, the consumer and the food as “product.” Moreover, the compositions are littered with candy, derived from corn, alluding to the industry’s dependence on commodity crops. Shedding light on these relationships through the use of violent imagery, puddles of petroleum, and dead animals, the works acknowledge ideas of dominance, submission, mass production and waste. By depicting the relationships between these problems, the images evoke social consciousness among consumers.

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Apr 18th, 1:05 PM Apr 18th, 2:05 PM

The Industrialized Agricultural System: Corn, Candy, Disease, and Dependence

CSU 203

There are many pitfalls of the industrial agriculture system including disease, fossil fuel dependence, pesticide use, and the lack of sustainability. As an artist, I chose to discuss these issues through imagery. Printmaking, by way of the “multiple original,” allows for the distribution of my images and their commentary unto a broad audience, generating social consciousness. The process of photo-lithography enables me to work in layers of color and hand- drawn imagery, resulting in lush visual narratives. These artworks address the relationships between the living and the chemical, the artificial and the grotesque, the consumer and the food as “product.” Moreover, the compositions are littered with candy, derived from corn, alluding to the industry’s dependence on commodity crops. Shedding light on these relationships through the use of violent imagery, puddles of petroleum, and dead animals, the works acknowledge ideas of dominance, submission, mass production and waste. By depicting the relationships between these problems, the images evoke social consciousness among consumers.

Recommended Citation

Soley, Nicole. "The Industrialized Agricultural System: Corn, Candy, Disease, and Dependence." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 18, 2016.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2016/oral-session-10/4