Abundance Fantasies: Giant Sushi Roll

September 12, 2013 By arne hendriks 1

Our desire for tallness is strong and deeply rooted. So deep it is difficult to imagine the change towards a general desire for shorter stature. However, the human species is not the sum of just one or two desires but of many. In the Abundance…

Shrinking is Easy

September 5, 2013 By arne hendriks 1

There’s a basic asymmetry in macro-evolution. On the evolutionary scale shrinking is easy and growing large is difficult. This is probably due to the emergence, during a trend of increasing maximum body size, of a series of anatomical, physiological, environmental, genetic and other constraints that…

Abundance Fantasies: Exaggeration Cards

August 30, 2013 By arne hendriks 1

Exaggeration cards are picture postcards depicting enormously oversized fruits, vegetables and livestock. First appearing in Fresno in 1905 the cards quickly struck a chord throughout the western United States. These  “tall-tale postcards”  became especially prevalent in small town rural communities hoping to forge an identity…

Growth Antagonists: Delta Cells

August 13, 2013 By arne hendriks 1

The growth of the human body is a highly complex process with many growth agonists and -antagonists taking centre stage at different times. In Growth Antagonists we each time zoom in on one of the key players as we’re trying to understand the puzzle of…

It’s Not (All) About Genes

August 2, 2013 By arne hendriks 0

There is a strong correspondance between your height and the average height of your parents. In Western societies height is up to 90% heritable. But it’s no excuse. Heritability statistics do not reflect the relative importance of genes in explaining height. They reflect what causes…

Japanese Miniatures: Tokonoma

July 26, 2013 By arne hendriks 0

Our cultural environment bombards us with signs that bigger is better. The very notion of shrinking creates such internal conflict that we are inclined to ignore its obvious benefits and condemn the whole idea to the realm of mad science. We lack a framework that…

Abundance Fantasies: Baby Burrito

July 15, 2013 By arne hendriks 0

Mexican restaurant Gorditos prides itself in serving a burrito the size of a baby. It’s customers have taken up the habit of taking a photo with their new born next to the burrito and putting the image up on the ‘baby wall‘. More than a…

Abundance Fantasies: Al-Kawthar

June 23, 2013 By arne hendriks 0

In the Abundance fantasies we explore the origin and contemporary meaning of symbols, stories and tropes of abundance. People have an insatiable desire for more, but in reality we constantly have to cope with scarcity. Perhaps the activation of an abundance iconography will help further ignite…

Post-Growth / Post-Scarcity

June 18, 2013 By arne hendriks 0

Scarcity is the fundamental economic problem of having seemingly unlimited human needs and wants in a world of limited resources. Several cornucopians have explored the notion of the post-scarcity economy, with unlimited free goods, services and information. The most appealing aspect of most of these post-scarcity…

Zebrafish Portraits

June 7, 2013 By arne hendriks 0

Although our last common ancestor lived approximately 450 million years ago the genetic profile of the zebrafish, or Danio rerio, is surprisingly similar to human beings. In addition they are easy to breed, have transparent embryo development and are very cost effective. These, and many…

Abundance Fantasies: Cornucopia

June 6, 2013 By arne hendriks 1

In the Abundance fantasies we explore the origin and contemporary meaning of symbols, stories and tropes of abundance. People have an insatiable desire for more, but in reality we constantly have to cope with scarcity. Perhaps the activation of an abundance iconography will help further ignite…

Force-Feeding Milk

June 2, 2013 By arne hendriks 1

On the occasion of the FAO’s World Milk Day the Thai Ministry of Health’s director-general Jedsada Chokdamrongsuk revealed an ill conceived plan to boost Thai’s youth milk consumption from 14 to 60 litres per year. The reason for this? To  increase the average Thai male height…

Golem Studio

June 1, 2013 By arne hendriks 0

What will the human species look like if we decide to shrink to 50cm? Will we shrink proportionally, or is it more realistic to anticipate on subtle, or dramatic, changes to the human physique? How do aesthetic desires influence developments, and what are the ramifications…

PARs in the Womb

May 28, 2013 By arne hendriks 0

The Incredible Shrinking Man is interested to know what consequences can be expected for human height if nutrition availability after birth doesn’t match predictions by the fetus on the basis of its prenatal environment. During pre-birth development fetuses prepare for the world outside by using the…

Abundance Fantasies: Cockaigne

May 23, 2013 By arne hendriks 1

“And still I’ve more to tell of it; The geese when roasted on the spit Fly to the abbey (believe it or not) And cry out ‘Geese, all hot, all hot!’ With garlic in great quantity, The best-dressed geese a man could see. The larks are…

Micro-Livestock: Guinea Pig

May 21, 2013 By arne hendriks 1

The 1991 OFA report ‘Microlivestock: Little-known Small Animals with a Promising Economic Future’ introduces several alternative small animals for domestication and meat and dairy production. Small animals are easier to breed and keep, and are a quick way of supplementing a diet, especially in less…

Ituri Zebras (Mbuti)

May 12, 2013 By arne hendriks 0

At an adult height of only 135-140 centimeters the Mbuti of Congo are about 25 to 30% shorter than an average person and among the shortest people alive today. Their average weight of only 40 kg constitutes a significantly more intelligent and efficient body design, needing…

Abundance Fantasies: Grapes of Canaan

April 15, 2013 By arne hendriks 1

Our desire for abundance represents both the cause for the planet’s perilous condition and the incentive for a possible solution. If (despite Earth’s dwindling resources) we want to continue our present lifestyles, and the desire for abundance is stronger than the desire for being tall, eventually…

Short Hearts

April 9, 2013 By arne hendriks Off

Despite what many of us think, tall stature is not synonymous with health. Although anthropometric historians like Robert Fogel and John Komlos stress that the reasons why we are so tall are the result of better health, this doesn’t mean that being tall itself is…

Hourglass, Banana, or Spoon?

March 31, 2013 By arne hendriks 0

Even within a speculative research such as The Incredible Shrinking Man it is difficult to imagine what the average human body will look like if we decide to shrink to 50 centimetres. However, based on the specific physical adaptations to environment and our various diets…