The pursuit of perfection and beauty is something that, in today's society, is growing ever stronger. The collective takes its name from Imperfetto (Imperfect), following a dialogue from which this common research focus emerged.
Through the juxtaposition of different visions, the collective aims to draw society's attention to an aspect that sometimes comes at the expense of function. The often frantic pursuit of aesthetics manifests itself in many areas — from outward human appearance to architecture, and food. It is precisely this last macro-theme that the collective places at the centre of the project presented at Premio Irinox.
We often prefer standardised food (sometimes produced in an unhealthy way) over something with an unusual shape but with the same — or even superior — nutritional properties to a "perfect" equivalent. According to a 2018 study, 41% of fruit and vegetables left in the field is discarded for purely aesthetic reasons. To protect this supply chain of "imperfects" — icons of diversity that human beings are trying to erase — e-commerce chains and specific supply networks have emerged to raise consumer awareness and promote mindful consumption, avoiding food waste. Examples include the "Ugly Food", "Bella dentro" and "Babaco Food" campaigns.
On average, we throw away 674.2 grams of food per person per week; among the most wasted foods are fruit and vegetables.
The different facets of the project emerge through its varied techniques: the supply chain linked to the production and preservation of tomatoes recreated using found photographs; photographs of food waste during meals; the mistreatment of food, handled in a disrespectful and irreverent way; and finally, imperfect food (ugly food) recreated with artificial intelligence, given a friendly and appealing appearance, yet rejected by everyone for its imperfection — for being "different".
Collettivo Imperfetto is composed of: Francesca Artoni, Natalia Elena Massi, Simone Matti, Federica Nenci.
