Potatotemporal

Wooden crate with four potato forms of various media atop.

Image: Potatotemporal (2024) Four potato forms atop of the crate and display system, 2024, photo by B. Brookbank.

Description:

When we were on site at Atelier LUMA for the Sustainable Institution residency, artist and filmmaker Agnès Varda’s exhibition Patatutopia was on display in the Frank Gehry-designed LUMA Gallery as part of the Hans-Ulrich Obrist Archive – Chapter 3: Agnès Varda A day without seeing a tree is a waste of a day. The exhibition included more than 600kg of potatoes, something we knew presented a conservation challenge for the gallery. We were granted permission to remove two potatoes from the exhibition. Those two potatoes became a touch point for the rest of the project.

Potatotemporal is an artwork that includes 18 potatoes made from 9 materials, plus 2 real potatoes. As one of the potatoes from the Varda exhibition began to sprout, a cast was made, allowing the replication (cloning) of the original potatoes in different materials. The nine materials are materials that were readily available to us while we were in residence at Atelier LUMA and include:

  • Clay
  • Felt
  • Salt
  • Paper Pulp
  • Tree of Heaven (wood)
  • Sunflower marrow
  • Mycelium
  • PLA (algae-based bioplastic)
  • Hempcrete/cement
  • Potato

The potatoes will be carefully documented and artificially aged so that we can track the impact of time on each material.

Images: potato making, experiments undertaken at Atelier LUMA by Kelly Jazvac, 2024.

Wooden crate attached to wall covered with a transparent acrylic sheet. Eight potato forms sit atop of the glass made of various materials.

Image: Completed potatoes displayed on storage and shipping system, photos by B. Brookbank, 2024.

A special crate and display system has been created from leftover materials for the storage, shipping, and display of the potatoes. The idea is to extend our conversations on sustainability into the shipping and display of Potatotemporal.

Image: proposal for Potatotemporal crate, Tegan Moore, 2024.

Potatotemporal Display and Shipping Overview

Description:

Five small crates function as both display boxes/shelves and functional shipping crates. When stacked, they combine into a single box for easy shipping, and can be condensed into smaller versions depending on the exhibition or presentation. Each small crate is lined with a cork sheet which also acts as an inset support for acrylic glass. The acrylic glass functions as both a window to the packing materials inside the crate and a surface for exhibiting potato sculptures. 

Packing materials are various: composed salvaged packing media including starch foam sheets and peanuts, shredded paper, and expandible paper mesh. Once shipped, the crates will show the marks of their passage, including scuffs and dents, and various shipping and import labels. 

Four potatoes (two pairs) fit in each small crate – a total of 18 potato sculptures. One of the boxes will have only two potatoes, and thus will also hold the material guides, flowcharts, and other ephemera. While on display, the box holding two potatoes will have space to display two real potatoes which will be sourced locally. The boxes can be displayed on a table or on a wall using the included invisible cleats. 

Materials

  • Salvaged wood
  • Salvaged ¼ cork sheet
  • Off-cut acrylic sheet from framer
  • Salvaged starch foam from various “meal kits” (usually corn starch) 

Qualities:

  • Naturally static free
  • Sugars are removed from the starch before manufacture so it does not attract bugs or rodents
  • Technically edible (though not recommended/not made in foodsafe facilities) and made in the same machine as cheese puffs
  • Performs better than polystyrene in crush tests
  • Polystyrene based packing peanuts tend to migrate or snap within a box when pressed under weight.
  • Salvaged Paper mesh – Very fine and will be used to protect the delicate potato sprouts and salt crystals. 
  • Glassine envelopes / separators for all the risographs.