"To me Minimalism suddenly revealed itself as a progenitor or accomplice to the same logic that produces monoculture row planting in national forests, and saturation bombings. . . . I wanted to do an acrobatic leap between the piety of the Minimalist project and the real world effects of that kind of thinking."--Ashley Bickerton, 1989

The six cast-concrete boxes contain soil and crop samples from Africa, Asia, and South America, areas where monoculture--the widespread cultivation of a single cash crop--has become a common practice. Bickerton compares this restrictive farming method with the aesthetic of Minimalism, in which the singular use of primary forms to create works whose impact depends on their sheer physical presence outweighs any allusions to the outside world.

Bickerton critiques what he sees as the single-minded thinking underlying both Minimalism's relentless pursuit of pure, efficient form and monoculture's emphasis on specialized crop production. In the narrow pursuit of a single goal, monoculture willfully ignores the harmful implications--dependence on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, hybrid crops with a diminished resistance to weather and disease, and the depletion of the agricultural gene pool.

"I wanted my work to have the ability to discourse with the world cultural and natural at large."
--Ashley Bickerton, 1989

"To me Minimalism suddenly revealed itself as a progenitor or accomplice to the same logic that produces monoculture row planting in national forests, and saturation bombings . . . . I wanted to do an acrobatic leap between the piety of the Minimalist project and the real-world effects of that kind of thinking."
--Ashley Bickerton, 1989

Ashley Bickerton was born in Barbados in 1959 and lives and works today in Bali, Indonesia. His work is quite varied in form and style, ranging from paintings to installations of found objects that he borrows from their everyday context. His works are considered to be conceptual art, meaning that he is more concerned with the idea behind an artwork than its finished form. Bickerton has made many sculptures that incorporate real elements of soil and plant life to examine peoples' relationship to nature.

Minimalism's Evil Orthodoxy Monoculture's Totalitarian Esthetic #1 is a complex wall sculpture of six rough concrete boxes containing soil and crop samples (peanuts, coffee, and rice) from Africa, Asia, and South America. These are areas where monoculture--widespread cultivation of a single cash crop--has become common practice.

Minimalism was an art movement from the 1960s that dominated much of the art practice in the United States, especially New York. Minimalists sought to create pure, geometric, abstract art in which the physical properties of space, scale, and materials were explored as ends in themselves rather than as metaphors for human experience. Bickerton critiques what he sees as the single-minded thinking underlying both Minimalism's relentless pursuit of pure, efficient form and monoculture's emphasis on specialized crop production.

The destruction of a diverse ecosystem and replacement with a single species system. This is most often a crop of little local value, but with direct and/or indirect profit potentials in other regions or countries.

With its narrow pursuit of a single homogenized crop, the practice of monoculture has harmful implications: dependence on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, hybrid crops with a diminished resistance to weather and disease, and the depletion of the agricultural gene pool.

Compare:
Conventional farm regimen in the United States
1. Fumigate soil with chemical to destroy soilborne diseases
2. Treat soil with herbicide to clean away weeds
3. Plant one variety
4. Treat soil with insecticide, to be absorbed by young plants
5. Spray plants with second insecticide
6. Spray weekly with fertilizer
7. Spray fungicide to control blight
Expense: $1,950 an acre. Labor: Little. Yield: $2,000 an acre

Organic farm regimen (prevalent worldwide, especially where farmers can't afford chemicals)
1. Rotate plantings to avoid pest buildup in one area
2. Spread cow manure from local dairy as fertilizer
3. Plant dozens of variations of crop
4. Add companion plants to attract beneficial insects
5. Introduce ladybugs to control aphids
Expense: $897 an acre. Labor: A lot. Yield: $4,000 an acre

The coffee so often consumed in northern countries is the fruit of the labor of peasants in the tropics. Often these people receive too little pay and have few legal rights. They may be exposed to highly toxic pesticides that have been banned elsewhere. In addition, thousands of hectares of forest are cleared to make way for giant coffee plantations. This monoculture destroys habitats, endangering the survival of many animal and plant species.

No one knows the exact origin of coffee. It is said that it was first cultivated in the province of Kaffa (hence its name) in Ethiopia, in the middle of the 12th century. Traders then brought the coffee bean to the Middle East, where it was roasted and brewed for the first time. In the 17th century, the drink took Europe by storm, and Europeans pressured their colonies in the south to produce large quantities of coffee.

European colonial powers structured the economies of their colonies around the export of raw resources. Goods such as tropical fruits, rice, coffee, minerals, and petroleum were sent directly to northern centers, which dictated the laws of the market. Today, even though former colonies have acquired political independence, the structure of their economies remains inextricably linked to the needs and whims of northern countries. This dependence on the international trade of raw resources is a direct outcome of their colonial past.

Coffee prices are determined at the New York and London stock exchanges, even though coffee grows exclusively in warm countries. Speculation often causes huge price fluctuations.

Source: http://www.equiterre.qc.ca/english/coffee/