Fooled (male, single, 34, vegetarian, 4 months), installation, 2005

 

Would we consume as much if we had to live with the refuse
of our material consumption? This is the question that informed the making of FOOLED, an installation that used the collected material refuse from my personal food consumption during a period of four months, returning all my empty food packaging made of plastic, paper, metal and glass to the shelf, in a setting and arrangement similar to the supermarket where those same products were bought. The natural environment of the planet is
in danger from the amount of refuse (mostly plastic) that is being dumped and is now found in the oceans all over the world. Although I am a very conscious consumer, and try to eat more frequently my vegetables and fruit (that usually require less packaging), the accumulation of material in the shelves is alarming. This installation highlights how we are unaware of the amount of unnecessary material that passes through our hands everyday and that ends up as garbage, reflecting on the comforts that we enjoy as consumers against the actual environmental cost that we pay for those comforts.

​

© Frederico Câmara 2005