ARTIST

Daniela Serruya Kohn

TITLE

La piel de la banana

YEAR

2021

ARTIST’S COUNTRY OF ORIGEN

Brazil

DIMENSIONS

30 x 20 cm

MEDIUM

Mixed media: compostable material from food waste

Credits: Image courtesy of the artist

The work of the Brazilian artist Daniela Serruya Kohn is developed from lengthy research work in which the importance of the exchange of ideas between different communities and the involvement of other disciplines from dissemination to science, is key. Serruya Kohn approaches art as a form of knowledge from which to explore the relationship between ecology, food and culture. The artist is interested in the prejudices surrounding fruit in general, and bananas in particular, that lead families and companies to discard those fruit which do not look perfect. The project La piel de la banana (the banana skin) aims to instruct the public at the same time as inviting them to embark on a sensory artistic experience. Part way between an instruction manual, a recipe book, a poetry anthology and a situationist proposition, La piel de la banana proposes different possibilities for reusing the bananas that are rejected by the market. Serruya Kohn suggests reusing the banana skins for different purposes (from edible preserves and pickling, to the production of new artistic materials), while encouraging the public to surrender to the pleasure of smell, sight, touch, taste and hearing. The picture which shows cellulose fibre created from banana skin, demonstrates that art is not only a suggestion but also a possibility.