Controlled Feeding Status is a set of 3D printed, sterling silver forks. The precious connotation of the material is offset by the form, which is covered in a progressive array of tumor-like polyps. This organic surface was “grown” in Grasshopper, a parametric 3D design application. For CFS, technology allowed me to realize forms that would be difficult or impossible to achieve with traditional methods. Technology also inspired the content of the work, which investigates the tension between reform and punishment in the American penal system.

In 1999, inmates at the Tamms Correctional Center in Illinois sued the government over nutraloaf, a bland, but nutritious, food product that was served to certain prisoners as punishment for “food-related offenses.” The inmates argued that nutraloaf was so disgusting that it constituted cruel and unusual punishment. A judge disagreed, stating that a “…temporary nutraloaf diet did not deny the minimal civilized measure of life’s necessities…” and noted that the diet was not “…maliciously and sadistically impos[ed].” It seemed that, as long as the inmate’s body was technically healthy, they had no right to an enjoyable meal.

Unlike literally every other recipe out there, nutraloaf is engineered to taste poorly, even as it satisfies basic metabolic needs. This inverts our conventional expectations of technology, which we associate with improvements to our wellbeing. Then again, scientific progress also gives us skewed electoral maps, addictive drugs, and weapons of mass destruction. Perhaps nutraloaf isn’t so surprising, and is in fact more than a simple punishment for the individual; it’s a way of reducing the humanity of an entire group of people, in order to maintain an appetite for imprisonment unmatched by any other nation.

When Controlled Feeding Status is on exhibition, I bake a fully edible and accurate nutraloaf to set on the wine and cheese table. The recipe is part of the official online record of the Tamms case, and gives the audience a chance to share in a visceral experience that is tangible, because they are consuming actual food, but also virtual, because the loaf lacks much of its punitive capacity outside the prison context.

Read more about this project here.