The great standard
2021
2021
Extra class, uniform, sound, colour and shape. These are some of the official standards imposed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) regarding the cosmetic control and production of tomatoes. These standards establish which vegetables go to market, which become secondary products and which are discarded. Aesthetic standardization also causes a disconnection for the consumer between perceived food realities and the irregularities intrinsic to nature—that is, rather than reflecting reality, standards shape reality.
The Great Standard is a project that visualises the role that standardisation plays in tomato production. It questions who imposes aesthetic specifications, how they are determined and what the impact is on food distribution. The film presents an intentionally exaggerated parody to highlight how aesthetic standards create waste and imbalances between demand and production, consumption and distribution. The case of tomato production as a starting point for questioning the system of rigid categorisation and standardisation of food products for transcontinental marketing, and for understanding the grander impositions of aesthetic standards and cosmetic parameters in capitalist culture
The Great Standard is a project that visualises the role that standardisation plays in tomato production. It questions who imposes aesthetic specifications, how they are determined and what the impact is on food distribution. The film presents an intentionally exaggerated parody to highlight how aesthetic standards create waste and imbalances between demand and production, consumption and distribution. The case of tomato production as a starting point for questioning the system of rigid categorisation and standardisation of food products for transcontinental marketing, and for understanding the grander impositions of aesthetic standards and cosmetic parameters in capitalist culture
Project in collaboration with Stefano Fusani and Janfer Chung.
With the commissioner Netherlands Food Partnership and supported
by MANN and NethWork for the United Nations Sustainable Development
Goals No 2: Zero Hunger.
