The supermarket: it’s the ultimate place of plenty, offering an endless array of flawlessly-presented food and drink. But who are the workers behind this perfect produce? It’s this question that motivates Serviervorschlag, an audio walk that lifts the lid on the conditions endured by the workers who harvest the food we eat. What’s particularly interesting is that this sound-based exposé is experienced in the very place the produce ends up: your local supermarket. Just head to a store of your choice (the bigger the better), don your headphones and spend a meditative 30-minutes being guided around the aisles – hearing directly from the farm workers responsible for the goods before you.
The production is the work of Weißensee graduates Jade Mauduit and Judith Weber, who decided to bring their multi-media practice to the topic of agriculture after reading media reports on the plight of seasonal workers during the pandemic. The result is a well-researched, beautifully produced and at times humorous work which brings you straight to the front line of food. Interviews with Romanian vegetable pickers and their German bosses at Brandenburg farms shed light on an industry we tend to block out. There are interactive elements, too: you are invited to do your own detective work by taking random products from the shelf and investigating their origins. The experience of hearing the personal stories of workers while you look at the produce they may have picked is unsettling, poignant and deeply illuminating.
Text: Benji Haughton / Photos: Serviervorschlag, Jade Mauduit, Michael Burrows & Thisisengineering
The Serviervorschlag audio walk by Jade Mauduit and Judith Weber can be streamed and downloaded online.
@serviervorschlag.audio
