Mutant Mania

The mutatoes got their public premier this July at an outdoor market in a trendy section of East Berlin. There, amidst the usual farmers catering to lifestyle-conscious yuppies, shoppers were shocked to find 27-year-old Uli Westphal with a display of peppers and potatoes, cucumbers and carrots that looked like they had just landed from outer space.

"The idea for the mutatoes came one day when I was shopping," Westphal told DW-WORLD.DE. "A little more than a year ago, I found a five-headed eggplant at a farmers' market and then, a few stalls further on, some bell peppers that resembled props from a science-fiction film. Since then, I've kept my eyes opens for such finds."

The idea behind the 500-plus collection of organic curiosities, which Westphal photographs and archives on his Web site, is to point out the artificial standardization of the products we buy in mass supermarkets. The mutations are all natural -- not the result of radiation or genetic manipulation.

And they're surprisingly aesthetic, as visitors to the Berlin market found out.

"There were people who wanted to buy my vegetables, businessmen who compared them with Henry Moore sculptures and vendors who brought me some examples of their own," Westphal said.

Art or food?

The mutatoes' fame quickly began to spread via the Internet, starting with the New-York-based blog swissmiss.

"His unusual market stand made me look," said Tina Roth Eisenberg, who was in Berlin for Westphal's "opening." "When I approached it and saw the sign 'Not for Sale,' I was scratching my head. I think his collection was particularly surprising as he was showcasing it in the context of 'real,' normal food stands."

In particular, fashion and graphic designers have taken to the freaky fruit and veg. Westphal's photos have been featured on the Web site of the Diesel clothing label, and the Discovery Channel has been interested in using the images as well.

"Designers find inspiration in all kinds of things," said Darius A. Monsef IV, who runs the blog Colour Lovers. "While most people might not see it, one of these mutatoes might end up inspiring the next piece of furniture or fashion trend."

Westphal has been somewhat caught off guard by all the interest.

"In the past few weeks, several hundred blogs and Web sites have reported on the project," he said. "It's really fascinating to see the different contexts in which my project has appeared -- everything from industrial designers, chemical firms, recipe pages, shoe manufacturers and environmental activists to pornographic sites and forums for pregnant women."

Easy on the eye, yummy in the tummy

The phallic quality of a handful of Westphal's specimens does indeed give rise to some prurient giggles. But Westphal isn't too terribly bothered, if some people see his mutatoes as just the latest on-line joke.

"Of course, there are a lot of people who treat the project as a gag," Westphal said. "But I've been pleased that there have also been serious discussions. I don't think humorous perspectives are necessarily negative, as long as people don't stop thinking."

Indeed, while they may be fun to look at, Westphal's photos offer a subtle criticism of today's culture of cosmetic surgery, the insistence on trying to make the food we consume -- to say nothing of the way we look physically -- conform to artificial standards of normality and beauty.

The mutatoes remind viewers that deviating from the norm is healthy. Though Westphal's mutants may look bizarre, they're arguably better for you than the standardized products that occupy most supermarkets' shelves. The proof is the artist himself.

"After I'm done with the photographs, I usually eat the mutatoes," Westphal said. "And I'm not dead yet."