still life series of rotting food by klaus pichler

‘lemons’ from ‘one third’ by klaus pichler, 2012 

place of production: limassol, cyprus 
 cultivation method: outdoor plantation time of harvest: october – february 
 transporting distance: 2.050 km means of transportation: ship, truck 
 carbon footprint (total) per kg: 0,72 kg water requirement (total) per kg: 448 l 
 price: 1,99 € / kg

austrian artist klaus pichler has developed ‘one third’, a highly legible photographic commentary of the connection between the individual wastage of food and globalized food production after learning the UN finding that one third of the world’s food supply is left to rot. a vast selection of foods are set in bouquet-like arrangements and photographed as they begin to naturally disintegrate. pichler captured the colorful and putrid images in a classical still-life composition, the simplicity of the black background and direct lighting, enhancing the detail and variation of color observed in the decomposition of each product.

accompanying each of the images in ‘one third’ a description of the decayed food stuff. the photos of the thrown-away items are further clarified by the artist’s inclusion of the place of production, cultivation method, time of harvest, transporting distance, means of transportation, carbon footprint, water requirement, and price of the products. with the series pichler conducts a critique of consumerist behavior and raises public awareness of the great quantity of food waste occurring worldwide.

read more about the artist’s project ‘one third’ here.

‘water melon’ place of production: pilar de la horadada, alicante, spain 
 cultivation method: outdoor plantantion  time of harvest: june – august 
 transporting distance: 2.442 km means of transportation: truck 
carbon footprint (total) per kg: 0,54 kg water requirement (total) per kg: 1490 l 
 price: 0,99 € / kg

‘carrots’ 
 
 place of production: tuvaila, arumeru, tanzania 
 cultivation method: outdoor plantation time of harvest: all- season 
transporting distance: 6.068 km means of transportation: aircraft, truck 
 carbon footprint (total) per kg: 6,59 kg water requirement (total) per kg: 24 l 
 price: 39,95 € / kg

‘strawberries’ 

 place of production: san giovanni lupatoto, verona, italy 
cultivation method: foil green house time of harvest: june – october 
 transporting distance: 741 km means of transportation: truck 
 carbon footprint (total) per kg: 0,35 kg water requirement (total) per kg: 348 l 
price: 7,96 € / kg ‘potatoes’ 

place of production: hevel modiin, israel 
cultivation method: outdoor plantation time of harvest: june – september 
transporting distance: 2.471 km means of transportation: ship, truck carbon footprint (total) per kg: 0,38 kg water requirement (total) per kg: 289 l 
price: 1,25 € / kg

‘jelly’ 

place of production: karachi, pakistan
 production method: factory production time of production: all- season 
 transporting distance: 6.629 km means of transportation: truck 
 carbon footprint (total) per kg: 1,95 kg water requirement (total) per kg: 8 l 
 price: 23,40 € / kg

‘flour’ 

place of production: chelyabinsk, ural, russia 
 cultivation method: factory production time of harvest: all- season 
 transporting distance: 3.873 km means of transportation: truck 
 carbon footprint (total) per kg: 1,30 kg water requirement (total) per kg: 1854 l 
 price: 0,99 € / kg

‘pre- fried vegetable sticks’ 

place of production: reken, germany 
 production method: factory production time of production: all- season 
 transporting distance: 1.030 km means of transportation: refridgerated truck 
 carbon footprint (total) per kg: unknown water requirement (total) per kg: unknown 
 price: 11,96 € / kg

‘instant whipped cream’ 

place of production: balmazujvaros, hajdu-bihar, hungary 
 production method: factory production time of production: all-season 
 transporting distance: 460 km means of transportation: truck 
 carbon footprint (total) per kg: 8,07 kg water requirement (total) per kg: unknown 
 price: 0,99 € / kg

left: ‘cherries’; 

place of production: santiago de chile, chile; 
cultivation method: outdoor plantation; time of harvest: november to december; 
transporting distance: 12.500 km (linear distance); means of transportation: aircraft, truck; carbon footprint (total) per kg: 13,49 kg; water requirement (total) per kg: 1166 l; 
 price: 3,90 € / kg right (top): blackberries 

place of production: tuxpan, jalisco, mexico 
cultivation method: outdoor plantation; time of harvest: october – june; 
 transporting distance: 9.900 km; means of transportation: aircraft, truck; carbon footprint (total) per kg: 11,97 kg; water requirement (total) per kg: 40 l; 
price: 15,92 € / kg right (bottom): ‘grapes’; place of production: trujillo, la libertad, peru; 
cultivation method: outdoor plantation; time of harvest: october – march; 
 transporting distance: 11.000 km; means of transportation: aircraft, truck; 
 carbon footprint (total) per kg: 11,89 kg; water requirement (total) per kg: 652 l; 
price: 3,49 € / kg

‘beef’ 

place of production: fladnitz an der teichalm, austria 
production method: animal farm time of production: all- season 
 transporting distance: 124 km means of transportation: truck 
carbon footprint (total) per kg: 13,33 kg water requirement (total) per kg: 5640 l 
 price: 15,99 € / kg

‘pineapple’ 

place of production: guayaquil, ecuador 
cultivation method: outdoor plantation time of harvest: all- season 
transporting distance: 10.666 km (linear distance) means of transportation: aircraft, truck 
 carbon footprint (total) per kg: 11,94 kg water requirement (total) per kg: 360 l 
 price: 2,10 € / kg

‘eggs’ 

place of production: kolontar, hungary 
 production method: factory production time of production: all- season 
 transporting distance: 196 km means of transportation: truck 
 carbon footprint (total) per kg: 5,82 kg water requirement (total) per kg: 3061 l 
 price: 1,39 € / kg

‘instant mashed potatoes’ 

place of production: stavenhagen, germany 
 production method: factory production time of production: all- season 
 transporting distance: 857 km means of transportation: truck 
 carbon footprint (transport) per kg: 0,3 kg water requirement (total) per kg: unknown 
 price: 6,60 € / kg

‘barbecue sausage’ place of production: herdecke, germany 
 production method: factory production time of production: all- season transporting distance: 944 km means of transportation: truck carbon footprint (total) per kg: 5,03 kg water requirement (transportation) per kg: 1 l price: 9,50 € / kg

‘apple’ place of production: sao paolo, brazil 
cultivation method: outdoor plantation time of harvest: november – december transporting distance: 10.150 km means of transportation: aircraft, truck
 carbon footprint (total) per kg: 11,05 kg water requirement (total) per kg: 434 l 
 price: 1,69 € / kg

left: ‘milk’; 

place of production: knittelfeld, austria; 
production method: factory production; time of production: all- season; 
 transporting distance: 202 km; means of transportation: truck; 
 carbon footprint (total) per kg: 0,97 kg; water requirement (total) per kg: 488 l; 
price: 0,99 € / kg right: ‘cheese’ 

place of production: signau, switzerland; 
production method: factory production; time of production: all- season; 
transporting distance: 871 km; means of transportation: truck; 
carbon footprint (total) per kg: 8,65 kg; water requirement (total) per kg: 3646 l; 
price: 36 € / kg

‘cauliflower’ 

place of production: finistere, bretagne, france 
cultivation method: outdoor plantation time of harvest: june – october 
 transporting distance: 1.784 km means of transportation: truck carbon footprint (total) per kg: 0,44 kg water requirement (total) per kg: 295 l 
 price: 0,99 € / kg

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