About walnuts, brains, computers and rockets

About walnuts, brains, computers and rockets” is made of silicone, expanding foam, cardboard, walnuts and sugar. For me the piece is mainly about finding connections between nature and technology and to illustrate the continuous transformation of organic life on behalf of exponential technological progress. There is a small rocket at the centre of the piece that represents technology as well as the idea of leaving the planet behind (maybe because it has been destroyed or because our destination lies somewhere out in the depths of the universe anyway) but at the same time the rocket is made of walnuts and caramelized sugar so there is this connection between the organic and technology (the sugar being the fuel for our brain and no rocket would have lifted off without lots of brains having been fueled by lots of sugar). I decided to use walnuts because there is this link to the human brain due to the walnut’s brain-like appearance but also because numerous studies suggest that eating walnuts can actually slow down the effects of dementia. But there is another connection between the organic and the technological in terms of the walnut. Being the seed of a tree the walnut stores the genetical information of the walnut tree. So it can be regarded a small storage unit or a small computer. The casting moulds of these different organic shapes are storage units themselves because they store the information of the objects being cast out of it. So in the end it’s all about walnuts, brains, computers and rockets and the transition from the organic to the technological. In the year 2050 every human brain will be substituted by a computer or uploaded to a cloud. Walnuts can be uploaded too and even ice cream! Today this is only a fictional process referred to as whole brain emulation or mind uploading but I’m afraid it will become a reality. Let’s hope for the best and enjoy our physical gelato as long as it lasts!