CULTIVATION, CARE  AND OBSERVATION OF  HELIX POMATIA
Mehrwert e. V. Aachen

Installation/Performance: Shopping window of an asian supermarket, 250 burgundy snails, video modul, beamer
The display window of the Asian supermarket Interfood, which the Kunstverein Mehrwert e.V. has used for its productions these past years, served as a breeding terrarium for the edible Burgundy snail. The escargot has been on the animal protection list since 1970 and is therefore bred in hothouses for gastronomic purposes. The snails went about their natural business unhindered: eating, sleeping, crawling, copulation in a 20-hour long act (the Helix pomatia mating season is June). The snails moved freely in the showcase, glided up the panes, crept along the floor and ceiling. Visitors could view the display window on the highly frequented Jülicher Strasse daily 24-hours long. The uninitiated possibly took the snails to be a living supermarket commodity, as often witnessed in Asia and America. This was all the more probable since nothing in the window pointed to an artistic activity or work. The exhibition ended with a video lecture at the Stadtgarten’s biotope garden at the NAK (Neuer Aachener Kunstverein). Under the title "The domestic animal in the age of technical food production exemplified by Helix pomatia" the audience learned interesting facts about the biology, the breeding, the preparation and consumption of Burgundy snails. The video shows a microscopic tape of Helix pomatia during its nightly activities of feeding and copulating, shot with a specially modified infrared camera module. Dr. Mark Benecke, a well known forensic biologist held a video lecture on Helix pomatia's "love arrow". The snails were afterwards taken home by the visitors for use in their garden or their cuisine. On that same evening several specimens were recultivated in the Aachener Stadtgarten.

PLACE(S) OF EXHIBITION:
- Mehrwert e. V. Aachen 2003 www.heimat.de/mehrwert
- Neuer Aachener Kunstverein 2003 www.neueraachenerkunstverein.de