The Louis Robert Affair | L’affaire Louis Robert (2020)
In January 2019, Louis Robert, an agronomist working for Quebec’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ), was dismissed for having denounced what he characterized as interference by members of the pesticide industry into public research conducted at the Centre for Grain Research (CÉROM). Despite the existence of a law protecting whistle-blowers, the minister stated that he personally authorised the firing of Robert. Later, he denied all involvement. Months later, with an official apology from the Prime Minister, Robert was reinstated into his position.
Specifically, Robert worked with journalists to expose the fact that scientists were under pressure to censure studies on the effects of neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides known to be linked to the collapse of the population of insects, birds, and other living organisms. One year after the affair, the researchers were finally able to publish their controversial findings in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.
The study demonstrates that no significant differences in productivity in soya and corn crops were observed with respect to seeds treated with neonicotinoids and those that were not. The study concluded that the use of neonicotinoids was unnecessary and represented no material advantage to farmers.
The sculpture, L’affaire Louis Robert, materialises the results of the study concerning the productivity of 64 commercial corn fields consisting of strips planted with seeds treated with neonicotinoids and without (control strips). Each of the sculpture’s levels represent the results observed over one year from 2012 to 2015. The natural wood blocks correspond to non-treated seeds and the coloured blocks to treated seeds. The height of the blocks represents productivity in kilogram per hectare.
Amongst the documents that Louis Robert leaked to journalists was an internal memo from the ministry, dated from 2017, which stated that there was a lack of transparency at the CÉROM. The existence of the document reveals that the ministry was aware of corporate interference but did nothing to abate it. While transparency can refer to the quality of materials, like water or glass, it also refers to the degree to which information is collected, circulated and provided to the public.
L’affaire Louis Robert, 2020. Wood, natural dyes, ink. Dimensions 205 cm x 133.5 cm x 23 cm. Installation view, Grantham Foundation for the Arts and the Environment, Saint-Edmond-de-Grantham, Quebec.
