Produce Barcodes
Emma C. Johnson
12 5x7in. C-prints
Lettuce from USA
Nectarine from USA
Pepper from Canada
Avocado from Mexico
Plum from USA
Grapes from USA
Water from USA
Oranges from FL, USA
Pineapple from Costa Rica
Mango from Mexico
Banana from Guatemala
Peach from SC, USA
1 36 x 24in. color poster
Peach from SC, USA
2020 [printed 2023]
My work explores mundane, idiosyncratic objects representing hidden power structures. For over five years, I took photographs of the barcodes and color registration marks on my food and toiletries. I am especially interested in the juxtaposition of the organic-ness of produce and the commodification seen in their attached straight, abstract barcodes.
As an artwork, there is a tension between the classical still life pre-industrialization and the neoliberal world where consumers are so familiar with objects being barcoded and wrapped in plastic that it becomes invisible. By documenting these ordinary snippets of daily life when we eat food from a global system, I invite the viewer to question this removed relationship with nature.
Displayed at the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts at Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA, for the Second Annual Earth Week Art and Music Festival presented by Keweenaw Youth for Climate Action (KYCA), on April 16, 2023.
