POT ART: Life of a potato

Life of a potato by Matilde Meirles 2022

https://matildemeireles.com/projects/potato.html

Matilde Meirles works with piezo sensors to take time to listen to stages of potato growth. Life of a Potato works with recordings of vibrations of the soil from potatoes patches, potato stems as well as vibrations picked up through the rake.

“The potato has travelled a long way from its native lands in South America. The starchy tuber, brought to Europe by the Spanish in the late 1600s, slowly settled to become a key ingredient in most European traditional diets. As with many other vegetables, plants, and spices from elsewhere, we forgot the origins of the potato. We made them our own because food is an inherent expression of social identity. It tells stories, and evokes nostalgia, belonging, and wellbeing. Yet, the food system of the current times is desperately unsustainable. Like the potato, many other fruits, vegetables, plants, and animals travel far and wide daily, blurring territories, and playing an accidental part in the immeasurable impact of the politics of food production. The potato is an incredibly resilient element whose history traverses time and location, and its historical traces have very different socio-political nuances in the places I call home: Portugal, Ireland, and now England. It also grows seasonally in our gardens and is a tasty tuber, part of a rich sonic ecosystem. This seemed like a good starting point for a new project.” Meireles, 2022