The Mutato-Archive is an art project by German artist Uli Westphal dedicated to the malformed bastard children of the produce world.
Westphal focuses on the unfortunate fruits and vegetables — such as a carrot with arms — that never make it to our produce section, and in turn are spared the ridicule of picky shoppers. Haven’t they suffered enough?
The Mutato-Archive is a collection of non-standard fruits, roots and vegetables, displaying a dazzling variety of forms, colours and textures, that only reveal themselves when lawfully enforced standards cease to exist. The complete absence of botanical anomalies in our supermarkets has caused us to regard the consistency of produce presented there as natural. Produce has become a highly designed, monotonous product. We have forgotten, and in many cases never experienced, the way fruits, roots, and vegetables can actually look (and taste). The Mutato-Project serves to document, preserve and promote these last remainders of agricultural diversity.
