The GeoMerce Project
Abstract: GeoMerce is a project that speculates on the ability of certain plants of absorbing heavy metals from the soil. Since those metals are listed on the London Metal Exchange, fields and crops become financial assets as sources and reservoirs of capitals. The amount of metal in the plants is crossed with the fluctuating real-time value of the accumulated metals. As a result, the value of the plants varies constantly according to the metals’ market value and the plants’ accumulation performances. GeoMerce draws a scenario in which agriculture blurs with finance and farming decisions are made according to both financial changes and scientific progress.
Bio: Giovanni Innella is a lecturer in Design Science at Chiba University, Japan. He has worked for the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea and in 2008 graduated cum laude from the IM master course at the Design Academy of Eindhoven. In 2009 he held the position of Senior Researcher at M-ITI. During his career as a designer he worked on projects in Europe and Africa, exhibiting at the Droog gallery, the International Design Biennale of Saint-Etienne, the Fuorisalone of Milan and the Van Abbe Museum of Eindhoven, amongst other venues.