Negative Value I.

Negative Value I.

2022

The ceramic objects were part of an exhibition with Erika Szőke, titled Fading Earth. The series of installations as well as the objects are reflecting on the relationship between man and nature. Csilla Nagy was interested in the question, when did humans cross the boundary of fair treatment of nature, if ever there was such a boundary? Mesolithic human began taming, influencing and consciously interfering with nature long before settlement and the cultivation of grains. The first gardens were forest gardens – a hybrid flora between naturally growing vegetation – mixed with man’s preferred species. The selection and cultivation, and accumulation of crops – now on vast monoculture farmlands – has upset the delicate balance between man and nature, threatening other species, the soil and biodiversity. Aggressive approaches in agriculture have led to situation, where we have to face catastrophic ecological consequences.

The title „Negative value“ comes from Jason W. Moore, a historical geographer and sociologist, referring to superweeds which are one of the symptoms of the agricultural production crisis accommodated to the extractivist logic of the late capitalism. The hybrid forms of my objects are referring to weeds and at the same time to ritual vessels, used by neolithic cultures.