ORG: Reaping the White Walls
09.29.2004An art and biology show. Macy Gallery at Columbia University.
In collaboration with 'socialmediagroup', we baked bread and brewed beer for gallery opening participants to eat and drink. This is the second installment in the series "eco-works" begun in 2003.
ORG Gallery Installation
-->Click Here For 'ORG' Installation PopUp<--
The Org exhibit in Macy Gallery at Columbia University dealt with many of the same issues present in the rooftop garden: notions of sustainability, of the visualization then actualization of a local food movement, of food patterns as resistance to the massification of homogenized American food culture. Also, we wanted to share our experience of the Sky Garden with a broader audience, to inspire them to seek out innovative ways to raise food and eat, no matter where one lives.
To become informed about contemporary food issues, we undertook a cross-disciplinary research study into practices inherent in the industrial food complex- which included genetically modified organisms, factory farming techniques and consequences, the protests surrounding the WTO and farm subsidy and trade politics of the United States and other peripheral issues. We also spent a good deal of time on the dialectics of these systems-practices that existed in defiance to the above systems of production. By spending a week on an organic farm, joining in a Community Supported Agriculture venture, shopping and eating from the farmer’s markets, and researching the growing local food movement, we began to see that by taking part in direct action or critical enactments in micro-political arenas, an alternative future could be charted regardless of mass ideologies.
The Org exhibit and the subjective nature of art itself gave us an opportunity to present our findings in dynamic ways. When dealing with the creation of artworks, statements and ideas are presented non-linguistic patterns that translate into first-hand experiences had by the viewer/participant. We questioned how we might best give our audience a firsthand experience of alternative and dialectical food systems.
Of course, we had to eat.
By focusing on the local, we began researching the histories of the staple foods beer and bread- or wheat beer and sourdough bread- and how the organism of yeast produces flavors unique to each locality. Yeast became our natural spokes-organism, with wheat closely following it, and we set out to produce our own batches of wheat beer and wheat-sourdough bread to be the focus of the exhibit, which were served at the opening.
We also wanted to share our knowledge of the rooftop garden as an extremely viable way to raise food, so the exhibit included a large number of photos in a wall-based installation. To pass on the ephemeral experience of watching a garden grow, we brought the now dormant soil into the gallery and planted it with the seed of hard red spring wheat.
No trackback:
Trackback link:
Please enable javascript to generate a trackback url