I was in a massive cathedral with stained glass so high I don’t recall seeing the floor. Below me, some bloke on a dodgy ladder was throwing potatoes at me. Not a rock. Not a brick. Potatoes. Which somehow made it more sinister. At first it feels funny, but if you actually stop and analyse it or try to turn it into some kind of deep and meaningful artist statement, you realise it’s pretty dark. I’m hanging on for dear life, and the thing being used as a weapon is literally food. Nourishment weaponised.
My latest visual dream journal entry – Potato Power – isn’t trying to be deep, but it absolutely is. It’s about power, control, absurdity, and how humans have a talent for turning literally anything into a weapon, including food, belief systems and each other.
And then there’s the potato itself. This innocent underground lump that somehow gets dragged through a toxic industrial obstacle course just to become the perfectly long golden chip. Washed, peeled, chemically treated to stop it browning, sliced, blanched, fried, frozen, refried, salted, packaged, and sold as comfort food. A whole poisonous process just to make something crunchy, uniform and addictive. Even our comfort food comes with a side of toxicity, which feels very on brand for humanity.
If you could un-invent something, what would it be?
If I could un-invent something, it would probably be war, but honestly we’d probably just find a new way to throw potatoes at each other anyway.
The NFT is now on Rodeo Club, not because I want to glorify the potato industrial complex, but because this image feels like a perfect snapshot of being alive right now. Clinging. Confused. Under attack. And somehow still laughing at how ridiculous the whole thing is.
My dream journal series is a collaboration between my surreal subconscious and the ai machine.
Kids Book Illustrator Andy C Marshall 