Buy B.C. Artist Statement

“Buy B.C.” 

Art Installation of Block Prints

Have you wondered why we’re surrounded by productive, flourishing orchards and yet the local grocery store is selling U.S. apples?  Have you heard that the tree fruit industry is in crisis? Do you know that fruit growers are losing money every year? This installation is comprised of 110 block prints which represent the estimated 2010 apple crop for Washington State and British Columbia.  Each print (or square) equals 1 million boxes of apples.  Clearly, British Columbia’s crop of 3 million boxes is dwarfed by Washington State’s estimated crop of 107 million boxes.  This installation is a visual representation of the problem.  Washington State produces a huge crop of apples and this creates a surplus in all of North America. 

Linocut block prints were chosen to represent the Washington crop.  With the repetition of the same virtual apple I wanted to express not only the enormity of the Washington crop but also that buying American apples is ultimately an empty purchase because there is no investment in sustainable farming in our own province.  In contrast, the 3 million boxes of B.C. grown apples are represented by 3 Ambrosia apples.  This suggests that buying B.C. apples brings about “genuine” sustenance because we also support local growers, sustainable farming and the tree fruit industry that exists only when growers can earn a living.

My preoccupation with showing how B.C. grown apples are overwhelmed by the Washington crop is to draw attention to an economic fact:  retailers sell American apples because Canadian consumers buy them.  If Canadian consumers ask for and “Buy B.C.” it will not matter that the marketplace is deluged with American apples.  As consumers, we have a choice to ensure that the orchards continue to flourish.  We can choose to buy apples that are grown where we live.

                                                                                      Julie Elliot