Laura Rodriguez: The exhibition "Edible Notions"

10/09 2024

Laura Rodriguez: The exhibition “Edible Notions”

On Friday, September 6th, the exhibition Edible Notions by the Mexican artist Laura Rodriguez was opened at the Novo gallery in Pula. The installation is the result of a co-production between the association Metamedij and the organization V2_ Lab for the Unstable Media (Rotterdam) as part of the Summer Sessions art residency where the artist stayed during July and August at the Novo gallery. This installation is also the last activity of this year’s Summer Sessions program.

At the opening, the president of the association Metamedij Marino Jurcan, the manager of the gallery Novo Marijeta Bradić and the multimedia artist Laura Rodriguez, who after the introductory speeches, gave a short guide through the exhibition, addressed those present.

“Edible Notions” is an installation that explores differential perspectives through the medium of the common biomaterials of our food that have been heavily technologized. Beginning with the premise that perspectives represent our particular attitudes toward the world and shape our relationships with it, this installation prompts a reflection on which perspectives are being overlooked or have evolved over time. This inquiry is especially pertinent as these perspectives are being passed into the emerging technologies that will shape our future. For instance, the perspectives we embed in neural networks of artificial intelligence may perpetuate our biases or, alternatively, introduce diverse interpretations of events and objects.

Edible Notions explores the biomaterials that create our food and dishes, taking a deeper look into their inner narratives, cultural and technological stories. The project seeks to draw parallels between our biological feed and the mental intake of thoughts, which populates the precarious or vast types of datasets feeding our current artificial intelligence networks.

Through a dining experience featuring speculative dishes representing tomatoes, avocados, and psilocybin mushrooms, the artwork delves into the complex narratives of these biomaterials—stories of colonization, cultural significance, and technological reimagination. Accompanied by audiovisual elements, the installation invites visitors to reflect on the biases embedded in our food systems and how AI and technology can enhance, reveal, distort, or reshape these narratives. It’s a feast that challenges our understanding of daily objects of nurture.

During her stay in Pula, Rodriguez worked on this installation that explores different perspectives and narratives about the food intake. She chose three different types of food that are high-tech in different ways. Her goal was to explore the specific cultural meanings and technological reimagining of these narratives, as well as to point out the prejudices that accompany them. Laura points out that the exhibition serves also as “a thank you” for all the help she received during the last two months, which is the reason why central part of her arrangement is exactly the table on which the dinner is set.

Laura Rodriguez is a multimedia artist and curator living in the Netherlands, who combines art, science and education in her work. Through his knowledge acquired in the undergraduate study of biotechnology engineering, graduate study in molecular biology and additional graduate in arts and sciences, she explores the links between living organisms and the technological world, exposing hidden relationships, empathy and their mutual kinship. In her works, she implements the folklore of Mexico and post-humanist philosophy with new media and speculative design. In 2021, she was also awarded the Kuryokhin Prize in the category of art and science.

Association Metamedij has been a part of the the Summer Sessions program continuously since 2016. The coordinator of the network is V2_Lab for the Unstable Media (Rotterdam) and the partners in 2024 are: Tabakalera (Spain), Schmiede (Austria), Cairotronica (Egypt), Sardegna Teatro (Italy), TEKS (Norway) and Metamedij (Pula). Each partner sponsors one or more candidates from their own country for a residency in one of the network’s member organizations.