Exponential Growth, 2010
Exponential Growth was a commission for the Radar, Loughborough. The project created an exchange network to share a locally found yeast culture, in a playful experiment to see whether Loughborough's 'Culture' could colonise the world, and what the limits are to growth.
There are many varieties of wild yeast present in our environment that have been used for centuries to leaven bread and ferment beer. In this form they are referred to as 'starter cultures'. Working with scientists, bakers and home-brew enthusiasts, I experimented with capturing and growing these cultures, and developing them into Starter Kits, which were distributed to local residents and visitors to take care of, use for food production, grow, divide and pass on. The project created a network through which these Loughborough-born cultures have been spread regionally, nationally and globally. The systems of transport and exchange that help the culture to spread were tracked through the project.
The project culminated in an bread fair where ‘culture caretakers' returned to Loughborough with products they had made from the culture and in the ‘Breadwinner’ competition, breads brought by participants were sampled by a panel of judges and the local public, in search of the best loaf.
Exponential Growth brings into question our value judgements about locality, global economics, growth and sustainability. It is a phrase often used with abhorrence by environmentalists, and with glee by economists. Is continuous growth possible and desirable, or do all systems find their own limits?