Garlic Skin

The shade of this lamp is made of the “stinking rose”: garlic. China is the global number one garlic producer of the twentieth and the twenty-first century. It is cultivated all over China, but “the garlic capital of China” lies in Shandong.See Financial Times; Recently, farmers have started to experiment with eco-farming, see China Dialogue; On the production numbers see the website of the FAO

Garlic is best known for seasoning in a vast number of cuisines world-wide. To obtain the flavorful cloves, the skin is peeled off. The thin and fragile layers of skin offer protection and keep the essence of the cloves concealed and well preserved. The bulbs from different types of garlic plants range from white to white with violet streaks and violet. The skin of many Chinese garlic bulbs has been artificially whitened and bleached with chlorine.See Times of India;

In its natural state, the skin indicates the state of the vegetable. It can feature a smooth and healthy glow, or bruises as signs of decay. The skins of fruits and vegetables are among the main organic waste products that all of us encounter on a regular basis and produce in daily life.

The artist Tsang Tak-ping collected and preserved garlic skin by carefully removing it with a cutter. He kept each piece of skin that covered two to three individual cloves and remained intact after removal.