YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT
“YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT” - London Road, 10th December 2020
If “you are what you eat”, then when did I eat anxiety and back problems? What part does the fridge take in your life? What does your fridge reveal about you: your lifestyle, habits, income, and even your feelings? Is the fridge the mirror of your soul? Is all food a source of life? How does different food affect your body and mind? How many people struggle with their mental health because of an unhealthy diet? Are you 100% in control of your life?
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT - is Part II of “Fluck it!” project as it relates to the human-body, consumerism, capitalism, mental health, the domestic environment, and our everyday life.
This project is an anti-ad for the food industry and marketing brands that use ads to manipulate our minds and force us into buying unhealthy food that causes a lot of harm to us both inside and out. This project presents viewers with a more complex understanding of the world we live in now and suggests reconsidering their nutrition and lifestyle in order to be more in control of their own lives.
Gertruda considers capitalism problematic because of mass-manipulation. The looped video projection represents endless capitalism. In her work, she explores constant problems most of us experience daily, such as capitalistic environment and addictions. Gertruda herself is suffering from mental health-related issues because of sugar-addiction that she has had since she was a child. Mental health-related issues increase rapidly every year, especially in these strange times (Covid-19 pandemic). Gertruda wants to force the viewer’s self-consciousness by making them feel uncomfortable when looking at the fridge with moving food- as if it talks to them. In order to feel better mentally without taking any kind of medication, you must change your food habits as it changes the way you feel, look, think, and behave. These changes can only be made by going outside of your comfort zone.
One of the project’s components is a refrigerator. The fridge provides us with a vast possibility of choices, but these choices come with consequences. Our fridges now contain so many products that are slowly killing us. Products with tons of added sugar bring many people diabetes, obesity, and other heart-related diseases as well as mental health-related issues.
All moving products are actual existing items from Gertruda’s fridge. Gertruda kept the original shape and colour of the items from inside her fridge to emphasize the strategy used by the companies to manipulate our minds to increase sales by simultaneously changing our choices, habits, and lifestyle. Statistics show that many people don’t recognize the potential influence of food advertising on their eating behaviours. The influence of packaging is important and goes beyond our taste in food. Fonts and colour appeal directly to consumer’s emotions. When colours change alpha brain waves, the brain releases a hormone affecting the emotions, mental clarity, and energy levels. Even if we blur popular products, we will still recognize them, because we see them in front of our faces hundreds of times every single day.