This is (not) a (test) kitchen

Based on the content of the novel, this piece explores the commodification of life through the performative function of biotech companies. The novel pushes the boundaries of the transferability of genetic material across species to recombine organisms for the benefit of humankind (and its convenience). This gives rise to a world in which not only organisms, but consequently also objects, words and consumer goods are reconstituted and commodified through artificial intervention. Controlled by profit-driven corporations, everything has become a commodity. Everything is for sale.

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As biomaterials made marketable – representative of highly processed industrial foods containing genetically modified ingredients – toast and stick eggs stand as symbols of the transformation of nature into a culture of processing. They serve as a prime example of the standardisation of biology, our food and, ultimately, us as consumers.

Obsolete, dying words, taken from the novel and which may serve as an elixir of life for the literate, are furthermore converted into the bases of DNA. DNA, as a storage medium for humanity’s artefacts, functions here as a marker of the dichotomous interface between the mystery and the commodity nature of life. The bases are detached from this context through the stages of a slice of toast and, just like toast, will no longer be explainable in the future.