"In the southern part of Mexico, women spend their whole day preparing fresh masa (corn dough) for the biggest and thinnest tortillas. The video pays homage to their life-sustaining practice and to the texture of life itself, threatened by the introduction of genetically modified corn, which can destroy the variety of corn that has been produced naturally for thousands of years."
Julia Barco
"In the Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Quiche Maya, man is originally made out of corn.
This video suggests a human being transformed into a Barbie, or a genetically modified corn."
Gitte Daehlin
"The Monsanto House of the Future was created by Monsanto's plastics division. It existed at Disneyland, CA from 1957-1967. It was mostly made of plastic and featured ideas like a dishwasher that used microwaves instead of water. Legend has it that instead of one day, it took two weeks to demolish it because the wrecking ball would just bounce off it. DAS finds it the perfect spot to "sweep" into action by perhaps burying the house in GM corn."
Laura Alvarez
"In January 2007, the Mexican government approved an increase in the price of corn, staple of the Mexican diet. This irresponsible act placed millions of Mexicans who live in extreme poverty at the edge of starvation. Furthermore, the government allowed the introduction of genetically modified corn; this creates a risk to the endemic varieties of corn.
Higher and Lower, serves as an analogy, as the prices of tortillas keep going up, our standard of living goes down."
Luna Marán
Since Party for National Action (PAN) came into power in Mexico, the price of basic food staples has risen, coinciding with an influx of genetically modified corn. This piece (which was originally a poster and is now intended to be applied on a wall) is a play on words since "pan" means bread. It refers to the paradox of the rise in tortilla prices (and inability of the people to get used to bread) and the current governing political party (PAN).
Ana Santos
