Food Futures is based on a plate held in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum London. The statement Waste Not Want Not and the wheat design exist on the original plate. Imagery of grains such as corn, barley and rice and at the centre a reference to a roulette wheel are introduced. This piece highlights ethical issues concerning the commodification of food staples and the potential for market profiteering. Is it right to gamble and profit when losers will be denied access to basic food due to soaring costs? This couldn’t be a more timely subject as droughts in the US and wet weather in Europe in 2012 are set to cause wheat prices to soar. Who will be the winners and losers?

Cash, Clash & Climate - MASLEN & MEHRA

All the sculptures in this series are hand-made by Maslen & Mehra using wire, paper-mâché and decoupage. Cash: For this collection the works explore bailouts, credit culture, money made from war, tampon tax, housing bubbles, natural capital, the commodification of food staples and the almost religious status that money has reached in our times. Clash: Social unrest from Istanbul to Athens, the use of social media to organize protests, the charged debate concerning gun control and gun rights in the US and even the London riots of 2011 feature. Climate: This theme loosely covers environmental topics such as chronic pollution as a heavy cost for economic power in China, melting ice caps, the opposing views of climate change, the legacy of radiation from Japans nuclear disaster and the untimely death of a sperm whale in Spain from ingesting 17kg of plastics generated for British and European supermarkets.