Why are carrots orange?

16 apr 2016
14 mei 2016

The exhibition Why Are Carrots Orange? takes as its starting point a Google search with that very question. After typing it in the search engine, you will find that carrots are orange because 17th century Dutch farmers cultivated them that way as a tribute to William of Orange. Within a single generation, the long history of yellow, white and purple carrots was practically wiped out. With the exhibition, artist duo Sisters From Another Mister imagine how many other things have been wiped out in a similar fashion, and explore the relation our bodies have with our man-made, technologically generated and genetically enhanced surroundings.

What type of relationship is created between the screen with all its layers of information, and ourselves? How does our body react, engage and behave when confronted with a screen? Are we, like carrots, able to transform into a new kind of species? Will we develop new limbs, super powered fingers or new ways of walking, standing or sitting? In this new evolution, the human body, unwilling or unable to keep up with the technology and demands of global capital, dreams of another existence...

Sisters From Another Mister (Amelia Prazak & Milda Lembertaitė) have a free-wheeling practice which embraces humour and absurd scenarios, gender play, witty sculptural forms, and musical interludes. Their practice is born out of detritus of discourse, of both collective and individual lived experience. The choice of working in collaboration derives from a mutual rejection of formalism in theatre, yet it is the theatrical quality that is the foundation of their work. The impact of the Internet and digital environment leads to exploring the imperceptible line between tangible and topical space of fantasy, in humans and objects. We live in a fragmented, post- flicker reality, in pixels and bytes, teleported by screen savers. Showing video in daylight is an attempt to turn away from the space of illusion, but turning art back to the viewer by making them aware of their own bodies.