Monsantra
Document Type
Article
Creation/ Opening Date
10-17-2013
Exhibition Venue
The Studios of Key West
Location
Key West, Florida
Description of the Exhibit
Space 2 Exhibition
Reception: Thursday, Oct 17, 6-9pm
Wendy Deschene and Jeff Schmuki
Sponsored by The Restaurant Store
The brainchild of a pair of artists from Alabama, Plantbot Genetics is a mock corporation that uses art, activism, technology and satire to consider the side effects of modern agriculture, and make you think twice about what’s in your kitchen and backyard.
Transgenic plants have genes inserted into them that are derived from another species. The inserted genes can come from species within the same kingdom (plant to plant) or between kingdoms (for example, (animal to plant) This genetic modification to our food is so new and untested that we have no idea what long term effects it will have on those who consume it, the lands on which it is grown, or what wide-ranging environmental impact that can occur. The Monsantra Project is named, after the Monsanto Corporation, which is one of the largest suppliers and producers of genetically modified seed in the world. Like a B-movie Godzilla, Monsantra is a hybrid of imagination, possibility, and reality. We can only guess what will happen to the food supply with subsequent generations of GMO’s. Using seeds from the Monsanto Corporation, GM plants are grafted onto remote controlled robotic bases to become an organism with no clear heritage and no clear future. This poetic GM plant robot hybrid begs the question what will it all become?
Recommended Citation
Schmuki, Jeff and DesChene, Wendy, "Monsantra" (2013). Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art Faculty Exhibitions. 35.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/art-facexhibitions/35
