I WANT THEM FRESH

By Joel E. Ferraris

"I WANT THEM FRESH" is a modular artpiece composed of four smaller individual paintings wherein the theme is focused on food. Fresh fruits and vegetables are presented in contrast with all canned, bottled and preserved foods. Either the fruits or the vegetables could be the focus at the center depending on how the four panels are arranged. As the viewer moves closer to the painting smaller details of canned foods, bottled preserved foods and processed foods in plastic containers are revealed.

This idea came into my mind after several years of living in the city. Whenever I go to 7-11 or any other small convenience stores I could easily buy these "ready-made foods" which are very cheap and are easily available to heat and eat thanks to the microwave ovens in convenience stores. One could be easily lured by their attractive packaging but if you examine their ingredients and contents they are no match compared to fresh fruits, vegetables and all non-artificial foods in general. Hence the title "I WANT THEM FRESH".

There is one funny story that I heard about a farmer who sold his fresh, young coconuts just to have the money to buy a bottle of soft drinks.

In my province in Iloilo when you go to the farm people there are very hospitable. They will catch and kill their chicken and cook it for you in their own special but very delicious way. And as they serve you the meal, they will apologize because this is the only thing they could afford because stores too far to buy canned foods that to them are so special not knowing that you are already drooling and eager to grab the dish.

The smaller paintings could be arranged in several combinations to suit the viewers preference or could be hung on different walls individually. My idea here is a kind of "interactive artpiece" wherein the viewers or the collector will have the chance to collaborate with the artist in the final stage of art making even just by the way the paintings should be displayed on the walls. This is also a plus for the art collector because it's some sort of buy-one-take-more scheme because the painting could be arranged in several combinations. If they get bored of the existing layout they could always switch to other possibilities.