Polina Chernysheva
Not Recipes
2024–2026
Interactive installation
Courtesy of the author
A rethinking of diets driven by ethical, environmental and economic considerations is now a global trend. Many people are abandoning the exploitation and slaughter of animals, reconsidering the value of certain foods, and making efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (livestock farming is a major source of greenhouse gases, accounting for approximately 14.5% of all emissions). All these trends could change the diets of millions of people. Foods that are currently unappetising, such as wild herbs and weeds, are at risk of becoming staples – they are highly resilient to climate change and require little investment.
Polina Chernysheva develops this idea. The artist prepared a multi-course dinner featuring wild plants and vegetables typical of our latitudes. Recipes were created by an algorithm trained to analyse and combine ingredients (the cookbook, created and illustrated by neural networks, can be scrolled through on a touchpad). “Technology expands our understanding of wild plants, allowing us to experience a deeper connection with nature. The process of creating and preparing food has opened a new perspective on the plants that surround us all our lives. And sharing a meal, in turn, helps strengthen connections between people – I think this is especially valuable for city dwellers,” says Polina Chernysheva.
You can participate in the virtual dinner yourself. To do this, you need to sit down at the table, after which the food will be ‘brought out’ to you. The exhibition also features video documentation of a real dinner, featuring dishes created by AI and prepared by the artist herself. The canned dishes on the table were also prepared using a neural network recipe.
