Emma C. Johnson Writer/Artist/Musician: environmentalism

Saturday, April 8, 2023

"Produce Barcodes" Series [displayed at the Rozsa @ MTU on 4/16/23]

Artist's Statement

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.

https://events.mtu.edu/event/Keweenaw_youth_for_climate_action_present_Earth_week_art_and_music_festival