Oddly

Too big, too small, too crooked, too misshapen, too pale, too different – too imperfect.

Worldwide about 1.3 billion tonnes of food end up in the rubbish every year. But about half of this could actually be avoided. More than 2.6 million hectares are farmed for the bin and almost 48 million tonnes of greenhouse gases are emitted for nothing.

With my project Oddly I want to question the standards of the food industry but also the purchasing decisions of consumers. Because we also tend to reach for the standard because we are used to it and tend to be sceptical about what is unknown and looks different. But also due to the strict EU regulations of the food industry a lot is sorted out before it even reaches the supermarket. Like the crooked cucumber for example which does not fit into the boxes for storage and is therefore simply impractical for retailers. It’s cheaper and easier to throw it away even though it actually tastes just as good and just as much work goes into growing it as a straight cucumber.

With Oddly I bring the misfits among vegetables into the supermarket and onto the dining table as conversation pieces to provide fun and serious conversation. This takes away the fear of the unfamiliar and makes you wonder why such foods are only on the table and not on your own plate. After all, it is precisely the flaws and imperfections that make something special and lovable.

For the prototypes, the imperfect vegetables were 3D scanned, printed, moulded in plaster and then cast in ceramic. To make them look even more whimsical and absurd on the table, they were enlarged three to four times. In this way they stand out even more from the norm and attract attention.

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