Using generative imaging tools, Eesly points to the absurdity of these claims of endless and effortless abundance made by corporations and governments alike, in a series of images depicting genetically modified crops in which the produce seems to grow exponentially. At first teetering on the edge of believability, the series quickly veers into absurdity, with broccoli towering above farm buildings, clouds of fertiliser engulfing fields and seed banks being detonated to make way for pesticide factories.  

In this series, Eesly probes the unforeseen dangers in the pursuit of growth and capital, of risk and instability.  The absurdity at the heart of Eesly’s work holds up a mirror to our increasingly uncertain times, where new technologies are being sold with the same promises of effortless abundance. 

BRUCE EESLY is a visual artist and gardener based in Berlin, Germany. Working with photography, archives and generative imaging technologies, his work blurs fact and fiction to question narratives of technological progress. Eesly’s practice uses humour to examine assumptions of photographic truth, the visual language of techno-scientific optimism and the increasing algorithmisation of our world. Eesly’s work was presented at the Rencontres d’Arles (France), Fotoraum (Cologne, Germany), Jimei x Arles Festival (Xiamen, China) and Hangar (Brussels, Belgium), among others. His self-published book New Farmer is one of the winners of the PhotoBookMuseum Dummy Award 2024.

ISABEL WALTER is a writer and curator based in Amsterdam. She currently works as Assistant Curator at Foam, and Editorial Assistant at Foam Magazine. She is particularly interested in art which expands the technical and conceptual boundaries of photography, moving image and new technologies.