If it does not kill you, it fattens you

If it does not kill you, it fattens you, Spazio Nibe, Milan, Italy – 2016

Roberto Cambi’s piece, the aptly named ‘Se non ammazza, ingrassa’ (if it does not kill you, it fattens you), debuted at ‘Parole, Cibo, Ceramica – viaggio tra mondi trasversali’ at the Spazio Nibe in Milan.

The exhibition explored the connections between food and literature through the medium of ceramic.

The artist was inspired to create the Tintin-esque figure after reading ‘Il Manifesto della Cucina Futurista’ by Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti and Fillia – a collection of thoughts, beliefs and ideas about the future of gastronomy, first conceived by the founder of the Futurist movement during a dinner at a Milanese restaurant in 1930 and then published for the first time on ‘Comœdia’ on January 20th 1931.

In this foretelling treatise Filippo Marinetti predicted that the food of the future would be largely created in chemistry labs, taking shapes and flavours as remote as possible from natural ones, radically changing human eating habits.

Could this possibly be a first mention of what is now widely known as fast food?

Roberto Cambi’s installation is a collection of all this convenience food, neatly stored or swallowed up by the human body and easily accessible through four hinged sections. The expression of surprise is taunting the viewer to open up and face the products of our modern eating habits: one can either get frightened or deeply fascinated by the colourful selection.

Despite being born of an idea of the Futurist movement, this new work is a pop art feast in the tradition of Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg and Jeff Koons.

Originally the display was a lot more ambitious: it was conceived to give viewers the opportunity of helping themselves to real food inside the ceramic body, a sort of collective act of cannibalism to better represent the greed of our times.

Dimensions: Height 150cm, Width 80cm, Depth 30cm when closed.

Height 150 cm, Width 130cm, Depth 40cm when open.

Containing approx. 70 items.

A SHORT Q&A WITH ART SURGERY

AS: How long did it take you to plan and finish this piece?
RC: It took me about two solid months from the first sketch to finishing it.

AS: The inspiration for this work comes from a futurist manifesto of the 1930s. How important is it to know all the background details when looking at this work of yours?
RC: The Curator of ‘Parole, Cibo, Ceramica’ showed it side by side with the ‘Manifesto della Cucina Futurista’ by Marinetti and Fillia to help viewers explore the literary inspiration for this piece and the connection to the theme of the exhibition. It added an extra layer, but it is not by any means necessary to understand what it is about.

AS: Why did you decide to use generic labels rather than branded products?

RC: I wanted to distance myself from well known labels to leave more space for creativity and allow the viewers more freedom of association: different countries have different names for virtually the same products. Therefore brand names would have been more of a distraction. It made it also easier to introduce cheeky items like plastic tuna or alien pills.

AS: What did you have in mind when you chose this specific expression of the face?

RC: It’s the expression of someone who has just realised that they are hooked on junk food, shocked by the extent of the addiction and in denial about the sheer amount already eaten.

AS: What response did you hope to trigger in the viewer?

RC: Reactions have been diverse. Some visitors have been attracted by the complexity and visual excess of this work. People have pointed out that we all are part of a virtual battery farm and it takes a lot of effort even to notice what we are fed. Some have simply remarked that it is not easy to stick to a healthy lifestyle.

My intention was to highlight the importance of food and its nature not just in terms of nourishment, but also as an expression of the culture and the identity of people.

AS: Is there a specific layout? Are items replacing specific organs of the body?

RC: No, there isn’t a deliberate layout. I placed all the objects randomly. A sort of spare room where all the junk of the house seems to end up.

AS: Are individual food items removable from the body? Are they sold separately?

RC: No, items are not removable, but I am creating some additional smaller pieces to complete and expand this work in time for the next exhibition. They will be displayed on cake stands and inside soup bowls.

AS: Pop Art was a movement born in the 1950s from a widespread sense of optimism in the USA and Britain. Is your work still holding onto that positivity about the future or is this a negative reflection on the consequences of our eating habits?

RC: Most of my work is influenced by Pop Art as I like that irreverent, mocking and downright flippant element of it. With this installation I decided to combine a lighthearted visual aspect and a more serious dig at our eating habits which are appalling.

Food for thought: we wanted to distance ourselves from the dishes of our grandparents because we judged them as too simple, inadequate, not modern, so we embraced expensive, but nutritionally poor junk food. Now we spend a huge amount of money sourcing unadulterated food for a healthier and more balance diet, which was what we had in the first place. And what about the juxtaposition of diet and social background?