Power Bricks
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Fahime Zare
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Fahime Zare
This project began as a material-led inquiry that gradually expanded into a broader examination of the infrastructures surrounding egg production. Eggshells entered the research as an abundant and typically overlooked by-product of human consumption. Yet working with this material quickly revealed that its meaning cannot be separated from the industrial system that produces it. What initially appeared as a technical exploration evolved into a critical investigation of the structures, classifications, and forms of control embedded in contemporary egg production.
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Through this shift, the project turned toward a systemic critique of how the industry transforms chickens into optimised biological units. Selective breeding, controlled environments, and mechanised life cycles are presented as neutral or even progressive developments, yet they reflect a broader logic in which sentient beings are treated primarily as productive resources. This tension between material potential and ethical implication, became central to the direction of the work.
The installation translates these concerns into a participatory, material driven form. By converting discarded eggshells into bricks and inviting members of the public to sign a brick based on their own egg-buying habits, the work visualises the relationship between individual consumer behaviour and the continuity of industrial systems. Each brick operates both as a trace of waste and as a testimonial of participation, illustrating how collective patterns emerge from small, repeated choices.
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Rather than proposing solutions, the project aims to create a space for critical reflection. It foregrounds the entanglements between humans, nonhuman animals, and the industrial systems that mediate them, prompting viewers to reconsider the values and assumptions that underpin everyday acts of consumption.
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Through this shift, the project turned toward a systemic critique of how the industry transforms chickens into optimised biological units. Selective breeding, controlled environments, and mechanised life cycles are presented as neutral or even progressive developments, yet they reflect a broader logic in which sentient beings are treated primarily as productive resources. This tension between material potential and ethical implication, became central to the direction of the work.
The installation translates these concerns into a participatory, material driven form. By converting discarded eggshells into bricks and inviting members of the public to sign a brick based on their own egg-buying habits, the work visualises the relationship between individual consumer behaviour and the continuity of industrial systems. Each brick operates both as a trace of waste and as a testimonial of participation, illustrating how collective patterns emerge from small, repeated choices.
Rather than proposing solutions, the project aims to create a space for critical reflection. It foregrounds the entanglements between humans, nonhuman animals, and the industrial systems that mediate them, prompting viewers to reconsider the values and assumptions that underpin everyday acts of consumption.
