Supermarket Mutants is a triptych that chronicles the past, present and future of radiation breeding, an agricultural technology that has proliferated globally since the end of World War 2.
For over 60 years, scientists on six continents have been exposing plants and seeds to radiation and chemicals, in order to induce mutations. More than 2,500 mutant crop varieties have been registered with the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Commercially released varieties can be found in the database of Mutation Enhanced Technologies for Agriculture (META). These organisms populate our human food systems and sit anonymously on our supermarket shelves.
Mutagenic Mint (1) tells the history of mutation breeding, and presents a mutation-bred variety of peppermint dispensed by a vortex cannon.
Cobalt-60 Sauce (2) is a Barbecue Sauce made from some of the most common mutation bred ingredients available in supermarkets today.
Disaster Pharming (3) explores a future where amateur bioprospectors visit nuclear disaster sites to search for commercially viable mutations.