Autarchy
Self initiated, 2010
Autarchy1 is an installation that proposes an autonomous way of producing goods and outlines a hypothetical scenario in which a community embraces a serene and self – imposed embargo, and where nature is personally cultivated, harvested and processed to feed and make tools to serve human needs.
Autarchy pays homage to the uncomplicated, the simple and the everyday. In the installation, a collection of vessels naturally desiccated or low – temperature dried are produced with a bio-material composed of 70% flour, 20% agricultural waste, and 10% natural limestone. The differences in the colour palette are obtained by the selection of distinct vegetables, spices and roots that are dried, boiled or filtered for their natural dyes. As guests in the project, Formafantasma invited the Italian broom maker Giuseppe Brunello and the renowned French bakery Poilâne to join in the development of the installation.
The cereal sorghum works as a link between these crafts – in a perfect production process without waste, the cereal is harvested and used to create tools, vessels, and food. As an open-source where information and knowledge are shared, the installation displays the different steps in the research, explaining the material and production processes of the products. The furniture used to display the products is based on the manufacturing and drying processes used in the project, and feature a drying oven and mill. Autarchy suggests an alternative way of producing goods in which inherited knowledge is used to find sustainable and uncomplicated solutions.
