Fabricated Fields: Agriculture in the City

Myvonwynn Hopton + Jennifer Regnier + Adrian Suzuki
With over half the world’s population living in cities, many people do not have the opportunity to experience agriculture directly; yet we are all dependent on what it produces. With the exhibition Fabricated Fields: Agriculture in the City, the relationship urban populations have with agriculture will be explored. Many cities have lost any direct rapport with agriculture, while others are in the process of rediscovering ways in which agriculture and urban dwelling can coexist. Agricultural art - artwork depicting agricultural products, farm equipment, farm animals, or crops - placed in urban spaces can provide an amusing juxtaposition of subject and surroundings, as well as a reminder of the sustaining force agriculture plays in our lives. The exhibition creates a space for viewers to question their own relationship with the products and processes of agriculture, and the possibilities for future engagement with agriculture in the urban realm.

The exhibition will be organized topically with the first section consisting of a series of graphic illustrations challenging the viewer to observe the dichotomy between agricultural produce in its original form and its processed form in the urban environment. Four mock food pyramids will be created, each focusing on a separate area of the industry: meat, dairy, grain and produce. Each pyramid will follow the agricultural product from its origin on a farm (both organic and industrial practices will be represented), moving up the pyramid through its processing until it reaches its final marketable form at the top of the pyramid. Each pyramid will have a unified color palette: meats will be associated with reds, whites and browns; dairy with whites and yellows; grains with yellows and browns; and produce with greens, reds and yellows.

The second section of investigation will consist of digital images of public art in cities throughout the world, which highlight a complex relationship between agriculture and the urban environment. Enlarged photographs will be used to convey the vibrant nature of this public art. Synthesized forms of representation (e.g.murals, sculpture) will be distinguished from organic forms of representation, where the art is actual agriculture (e.g. The Wheatfields, NY, Not-a-Cornfield, LA). Within this distinction, the artworks will be further organized by subject matter, intent and material.

The final section will compel the viewer to question his direct relationship with agriculture in the urban environment by presenting images of farmer’s markets, community gardens and small scale urban farms in order to represent how agriculture currently exists in densely populated cities. A farmer’s market installation will be the culmination of the exhibition and will allow the viewer to fully experience agriculture in the urban realm.

Quality agricultural land is being steadily lost to urbanization, decreasing our food production capacity and degrading our natural environment. This loss of land requires not only increased agricultural production on limited land surface, but also a change in current consumer practices. Fabricated Fields: Agriculture in the City hopes to serve as a catalyst for discussion regarding the origin of food, how urban populations connect with those origins, and how agriculture can be reintegrated into the urban fabric.