PT / EN
Sample of genetic resources from 50 regional maize (Zea mays L.) crops from the collection of the Portuguese Plant Genetic Resource Bank, after being coated with gold via thermal evaporation at the Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL).
Photograph by Miguel Teodoro.
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The artist Miguel Teodoro collaborates with the Portuguese Plant Genetic Resource Bank (BPGV) and the Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) to investigate the evolution of maize (Zea mays L.) from its introduction in the Braga region (Portugal) to its contemporary transformation into a technological object cultivated in intensive monoculture systems.
His work, titled 'Hybrid Matters,' explores how the widespread use of hybrid maize seeds in the region has accelerated processes of genetic erosion with irreversible ecological and socio-cultural consequences. Transforming the kiosk into a cinematic organism-device, Miguel’s installation reinterprets and reconfigures images and materials, invoking artefacts from the former maize breeding centre and traditional seed harvesting missions in the region.
Miguel Teodoro is a visual artist based between Portugal and the Netherlands. His practice, explores the interdependencies between materiality, geopolitics, ecology, and visual culture through contextual spatial interventions.
More information at:
www.miguelteodoro.com
Technical Sheet
Artwork specifications: Traditional maize seeds coated with gold via cathodic sputtering, light boxes from the former Maize Breeding Centre of Braga, mirrored dibond.
Acknowledgements: Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), Portuguese Plant Genetic Resource Bank (BPGV), Ana Maria Barata, Jennifer Teixeira, Carlos Rosário, Angélica Thomere, Carolina Baptista, Anabela Ramos, Enzo Ribeiro, André Violas, Andres Pardo, Carolina Fernandes, Filomena Rocha, Carlos Gaspar, Madalena Vaz, Octávio Serra, Anabela Baptista, Eduardo Alexandre Guerreiro, António Macedo, D. Alice, Shuang Xu, Carlos Teodoro, Letícia Costelha.