Monsanto Seed–Burning by David Horvitz
Saturday, July 20, 2013
The Shandaken Project
300 Route 42, Shandaken, NY
As Monsanto fields burn across Hungary and municipal non-GMO zones spring up across South America, 2012 resident David Horvitz lays waste to thousands of future GMO plants while celebrating midsummer with an outsized bonfire, music, and ritual.
In 2010, agriculture giant Monsanto capitalized on the tragic earthquake in Haiti by taking advantage of destroyed infrastructure to push GMO seed stock onto local farmers. In response, many of the Haitian farmers burned Monsanto seeds. Horvitz references this burning in mid-summer, to connect with pagan sun-worshipping (life-worshipping) rituals. The action is intended as a massacre of intellectual property.
In tandem with the destruction of the privatized seed, Horvitz will plant a public seed. In 2011, Horvitz collected seeds from Honey Locust trees in Zuccotti Park that dropped amongst the Occupy Wall Street encampment. One of these will become a tree in the Shandaken Project garden.