How do you preserve art made from rotting fruits and vegetables? Sjoukje van der Laan, AGO Assistant Conservator, Contemporary Art, and Interpretive Planner Nadia Abraham answered this question with Ron Benner’s installation Anthro-Apologies (And the trees grew inwards – for Manuel Scorza)(1979–80) in a recent Close Looking talk.
Acquired by the AGO in 1994, Anthro-Apologies is a large installation. It features gelatin silver photographs, presumably of a farmer’s hands: two placed against the wall and two on the ground. Piles of fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, spices and other remnants Benner gathered in Peru sit atop the lower two photographs.
First exhibited in the late 1970s and again in 1995, this work was last on view at the AGO in 2017 for Toronto: Tributes + Tributaries, 1971–1989, the group exhibition curated by AGO Curator, Indigenous Art, Wanda Nanibush. While the exhibition was open, Nanibush described the ephemeral qualities of Anthro-Apologies as echoing ideas surrounding preservation in art that were circulating during the 1970s and ’80s.
The fruits and vegetables in Anthro-Apologies are very much real. They decompose, decay, grow mold and even attract fruit flies. This presents a unique challenge in its conservation and further amplifies the concept of the work. For van der Laan, her routine considerations for proper conservation are heightened because of food’s perishable nature. “Our focus is to preserve and conserve the work’s original concept and present it in the most original way to the public,” she explained. “When we installed the work in 2016, we were lucky Ron was able to come in for the installation. We took that opportunity to have an in-depth conversation with him about how he sees the artwork and his wishes for the future.” The AGO Conservation team aims to slow down, not stop, the process of deterioration. Each time the work is being prepared for exhibition, the conservators will evaluate what can be displayed as is, what needs to be replaced and what can be discarded.
Watch the full Close Looking virtual conversation between Abraham and van der Laan here.