Futurefarmers dream of, and advocate for, public art that is living and ever-evolving. They believe that extended timeframes should be integral to public art commissions, as notions of time and place\u200a\u2014\u200aof being present in a context long enough to create a situation\u200a\u2014\u200aare crucial for opening up the possibility of encounter and engagement with the other. Founded by Amy Franceschini in 1995, Futurefarmers is a diverse group of practitioners with a common interest in extending a moment of inquiry into one of collective action. Using various media, they deconstruct and visualize the intrinsic logics behind systems of food production, communication, and rural farming, offering a playful way for others to join in tracing out new narratives of how we relate to soil, land, and each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Soil Procession<\/em> (2015), a performance tracing the movement of soil from rural to urban areas, fifty Norwegian farms contribute soil to fill a plot in Bj\u00f8rvika, Oslo\u2019s new waterfront development. This action is part of a ground-building ceremony and declaration of land by the Flatbread Society\u200a\u2014\u200aa group including farmers, oven builders, astronomers, gardeners, artists, soil scientists, and bakers. Together, they establish a new grain field and designate the larger site as a cultural commons, which today houses the Flatbread Society Bakehouse<\/em> (2017), the ancient grain field, an ongoing public program, a gardening community, and Oslo\u2019s first full-time city farmer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The space, now named Los\u00e6ter, results from ongoing work by the Flatbread Society(2012\u2013ongoing), Futurefarmers\u2019 longest-running public art project. The name \u201cFlatbread Society\u201d denotes both a working group and a method employed to realize a permanent project\u200a\u2014\u200aa way of bringing together local actors to develop and maintain a shared vision for the use of this land. Over an eight-year period, the Flatbread Society periodically convened through artistic interventions, engaging in research and cultivation to bring together layers of knowledge from near and far, encompassing heritage grains, soil and microorganisms, and baking. These actions filled the space, positioning farming as a fundamental component of Bj\u00f8rvika\u2019s cultural landscape, fostering self-organization and resilience in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engaging in a collaborative practice, designer, curator, and educator Carla Rangel focuses on fostering spaces for critical engagement with the systems that sustain us\u2014whether urban, social, or ecological. Currently, she co-curates and coordinates public programs at SBC Gallery of Contemporary Art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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