Soy story: food subculture club visits an exhibiton of Romanian otaku culture
July 9, 2006
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An array of Romanian textured soy products
What could be more obvious than the fact that the noble soybean, or rather, the humble hunk of textured soy and contemporary Romanian otaku culture are inextricably linked. You already knew that, right?
About one month ago, Mediamatic hosted a most unusual food-related exhibition about the intricate and vivid world of Romanian otaku. Otaku, a once Japanese, and now ubiquitous term for fanatic, refers to the group of people that live out the bulk of their social and cultural lives in social game spaces online. Artists Stefan Tiron (curator/artist), Bogdan Marcu (artist, musician) and Linda Barkasz (cosplayer/artist) playfully offered a glimpse of the inner workings of this subculture through a multi-media installation, comprised of costumes, hacked and remade computer animations, collections of manga literature, glittery stickers, sparkles, a replica of a Romanian otaku’s room, a goodly amount of oral history and a good old-fashioned BBQ featuring about as many Romanian soy products as anyone could stomach.
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Stefan Tiron opens the Mediamatic BBQ and tells the Romanian textured soy story
To attempt to sketch the outlines of a living subculture through art (or the medium of BBQ for that matter) was an inspired move by curator Arne Hendriks. All the more so because in the selfsame building at the very same time, the Stedelijk Museum was hosting a flat and populistic exhibition about the role of art in online game culture, Next Level. Obviously I prefer an exhibiton initiated out of engagement with the creators of contemporary culture to an exhibition produced to increase visitor numbers amongst teenagers whether there’s a BBQ involved or not.
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Curator Arne Hendriks and artist Bogdan Marcu converge. Sausage on the left, soy on the right
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Artist Linda Barkasz tells Katerina the story of the Romanian otaku whose offline personality was in need of a boost and for whom she made this costume.
What I learned during this food subculture club outing is that although soy is probably only specifically important to these particular Romanian otaku, soy has certainly played an important role in Romanian cultural history. For realsies. (Please read more… )
debra at 18:13 | Comments (0) | post to del.icio.us
The object of my guestimation
July 7, 2006
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The Design Habit estimation tool by Srishti Bajaj, photo courtesy of the designer and used entirely with permission
It’s about ‘this much’, you gesture wtih your fingers, and the person you’re talking to is supposed to get a sense of what you’re talking about. We’re all wired differently. I’m an eyeballer and gesturer. London-based designer Srishti Bajaj has developed a tool to connect the gesturer with the measurer, and estimation tool. Last week I re-ran into her work, a collection of objects that are inspired by or refer to eating habits.
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The Design Habit estimation tool by Srishti Bajaj, photo courtesy of the designer and used entirely with permission
- Design Habit website and portfolio
- Three Vices reviewed at We-Make-Money-Not-Art
- Equalizer knife at Designboom
debra at 17:27 | Comments (0) | post to del.icio.us
Wasteware, it’s everything but the squeal in food recycling
July 4, 2006
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Rhubarb and carrot waste formed into little bowls for cherries and berries.
Man and Humanity masters graduate Matthijs Vogels has developed a beautiful but extreme way to eliminate food waste by turning it into plates and bowls. At last week’s Design Academy Eindhoven MFA show, Vogels exhibited a concept restaurant in which all food waste would be recycled into sensual tableware as well as gas fuel for the cooking. Vegetable, fruit, tea, coffee and packaging waste is churned up, moulded under pressure and formed into any shape. The new material, which I am calling wasteware, is reusable, reminiscent of Indian leaf plates and bowls in its simplicity. Wastewear plates and bowls are fully compostable, easy to manufacture anew (even onsite), and are extremely sensually textured, reflecting the materials from which they are made. The material is so pretty that you would be tempted to use the bowls as a storage space for other precious things aside from food. It is as sturdy as a low-heat fired ceramic.
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In Vogels’ recycling restaurant concept, SPROUT, guests would receive a small vessel made out of the waste/leftovers from their meal in combination with the restaurant’s leftovers including the composted plates. This souvenir of waste serves to remind guests of the circular system of waste, compost, growing food.
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Matthijs Vogels’ recycling concept, this bowl is made out of leek waste. (Please read more… )
debra at 12:30 | Comments (4) | post to del.icio.us
