Human Slaughterhouse to Feed Pigs: ‘Foodmaster’ by Atelier Van Lieshout

Human Slaughterhouse to Feed Pigs: 'Foodmaster' by Atelier Van Lieshout

July 21, 2009, 1:30 pm 3 Comments

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"Foodmaster," Atelier Van Lieshout, 2009. Photos: Eveline van Egdom, via stroom.typepad.com

In the installation "Foodmaster" by art/design firm Atelier Van Lieshout, a slaughterhouse works in reverse — here, humans are slaughtered to feed the pigs. It's part of the ongoing "Foodprint. Food for the city." program in The Hague, Netherlands, a two-year series of exhibitions, symposiums, and art projects that "focuses on the influence food can have on the culture, shape and functioning of the city."

Serving as a critique of nightmarish industrialized animal food production, "Foodmaster" features humans hung up like hogs, a series of operating/butchery tables, and a machine that turns anonymized humans into food for pigs. From the installation's description (this is a rough translation from Dutch):

"Foodmaster" shows a pig-feed machine, and operating tables that are necessary for the efficient processing of pig meat to people. In an attempt to rationalize industrial food production, "FoodMaster" presents a critical commentary on our modern consumer society. On the other hand, "FoodMaster" is also a solution to the problem of feeding the ever-growing world population. In this system, only simple production work is needed — the process is as simple and easy as possible. The machine works on human remains that are first crushed, then dried, and sterilized. Thus the man himself becomes part of the fully-industrialized food chain that he has created.

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