The art installation ‘Eating Tubes’ can be seen in the ARTIS-Groote museum.

The installation by future food designer Chloé Rutzerveld challenges visitors to think about how much they are willing to adapt for a more sustainable planet. Instead of trying to change the food industry, we can also adapt ourselves to plant-based foods and become better herbivores. How far are you willing to go?

Chloé Rutzerveld (1992) has been working on the food of the future for years. Rutzerveld: ‘The idea that we are all ‘eating tubes’ fascinates me enormously: a kind of tube from mouth to butt in which food is converted into energy. So yes, I sometimes look at my poop in amazement. We would burden the earth less with a plant-based diet, but then we would have to become more efficient herbivores.’ In her art installation she presents the visitor with three scenarios: an extra organ, modification of our DNA and a shot of bacteria. Rutzerveld laughs and draws the comparison: “Nowadays we are prepared to go far for cosmetic procedures. Why don’t we intervene to become more efficient herbivores? An injection for a tighter face or an extra organ for a better world?”

Design your body
In addition to the art installation, there are also daily meetings, these are short workshops in which the museum wants visitors to gain beautiful and new insights. The meeting with the theme ‘Design your body’ is special for ‘Eating Tubes’. Together we seek an answer to the question: Can we (or our bodies) be the solution for a more sustainable planet?

The art installation ‘Eating tubes’ can be seen for six months in ARTIS-Groote Museum and is part of the permanent collection. In the museum, the visitor examines the similarities and dependencies between humans, animals and plants. The future of food plays an important role in this.
All meetings are free to attend when visiting the museum, daily at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. for everyone aged 10 and over.

Eating tubes, until May 31 2025, ARTIS Groote Museum, Plantage Middenlaan 41