THE INDEPEN-DANCE OF THE POTATO
2023Performance and installation
wood, potatoes, dirt,
electric circuit, light bulb
This work presents itself as a manifesto of self-empowerment and collectivism. Historically, the potato has often been associated with the “common individual,” emerging as a metaphor for the working class.
In a performance enacted on the day of the exhibition’s opening, I symbolically position myself as a potato. Emerging from the soil, I connect the surrounding potatoes, transforming them into a battery capable of powering a lamp that illuminates the space. Yet the chemical reaction that produces this energy simultaneously depletes the potatoes’ nutrients.
In a symbolic gesture of liberation, I publicly proclaim my freedom, disconnect the potatoes from the system that exploits them, and return them to the soil, allowing them to bloom once more as living plants.
In a symbolic gesture of liberation, I publicly proclaim my freedom, disconnect the potatoes from the system that exploits them, and return them to the soil, allowing them to bloom once more as living plants.
Thank you:
Jonathan Esmeralda
Catarina
Fernando
Marta
Asbjørn
LDC Porto