Hands dipped in chocolate form part of a project from German artist and designer Felix von der Weppen designed to raise awareness about the bitter side of chocolate.
Originally created for the 247-group project Telephone, von der Weppen’s Chocolate Slavery series highlights the reality of child slavery in Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) where an estimated 50% of the world’s chocolate is grown.
“I wanted to create images that lead the viewer into this moral contradiction between desire and rejection. Hands stand for the power of action of individuals. By losing the power to act, we lose liberty, equality and are most likely controlled or enslaved by others,” explains the artist of his project.
The Cote d'Ivoire is the leading exporter of cocoa beans to the world market. Yet the horrendous conditions under which enslaved children toil on the cocoa farms of the Cote d'Ivoire is juxtaposed with the idea that the cocoa will ultimately end up producing something that most people associate with happiness and pleasure – chocolate.
“Like the flower trade and mining for gold and diamonds, this subject illustrates the big gap between our blurry perception of reality. All these precious things stand for love and joy in our world, while there is greed and harm at their very root,” explains von der Weppen.
Visit: http://www.felixvonderweppen.com/ and http://www.myorangebox.com
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