Quality Expansion
My
final project is to represent the food quality of daily lives in the world we
are living in today. It is very challenging to provide everyone with healthy
food without harming our environment nowadays. The population keeps increasing
and the food demands will constantly change, and it will only get harder than
better. We will not have enough time, money, resources, or space to be growing
all the food we need. Therefore, we might need to start using technology or
scientific ways to create and grow more and enough food for the growing
population. For example, we may have to inject chemicals or put less solid food
or ingredients or more water or flour into our meals in the future. I will be
using water, gummy bears, illustration boards, and fixative spray as my
materials for my final project. I would also need several different bowls or
jars or cups for this to work. How is will work is that the gummy bears will be
expanded in the water after hours to a couple of days. This expansion of the
gummy bears is to represent the way our food may look like in the future if we
are not aware of the problem and act on it sooner. I am planning to get the
gummy bears and illustration boards on November 7, then I would do a test round
for the experiment of the expansion for the gummy bears on the same day and
leave it for several hours. I will start the final project on November 12 and
let the gummy bears sit in the water for a couple days and take it out to let
it dry. I would cut the illustration boards to small 4x4” square on November 13
and start gluing and spray the fixative on November 14. The ideal presentation
of this artwork is for it to be mount of the wall as it would in a gallery,
instead of the floor or a table. It will be view as a chart and mounted at eye
level. If I am not able to put them on the wall, I will need to mount the small
squares on a larger piece of painted cardboard or foam core and have the board
stand against a wall on the floor or a pedestal. The challenge for this project
might be that depending on the time and temperature of the water, the gummy
bear could melt and dissolve so I would need to be very cautious about the
timing and temperature would have to be tested several times before the
actually making of the project. The other challenge will be if the gummy bears
will stay the way they are even after a couple or a few days of the making. The
only way to overcome these challenges would be to keep experimenting on all
aspects of the materials until I get it to the perfect states.
﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎
With the growing population in our society, and our need to use plastic and paper packages are insane and unnecessary. Each skittles represent one person in our society. This piece is more of an experimental work through survey questions. It is a survey of how many people in my surroundings that are aware and act on it to solve the problem. One mason jar will be representing the population that bring their own grocery bags, purchase at a farmers' market instead of a supermarket, or purchase food products that have bare minimum of packagings. Every different colour of the skittles in the jar symbolizes that this issue does not have any relation to different sexuality, race, gender, religion, or class. In fact, it purely depends on one's perspective and lifestyle that they choose to have.
In our world today, it is very challenging to provide everyone with healthy food without harming our environment. The population keeps increasing and the food demands will constantly change. We will not have enough time, money, resources, or space to be growing all the food we need. Therefore, we might need to start using technology or scientific way to create and grow more and enough food for the growing population. For example, we may have to inject chemicals or put less solid food/ingredients or more water or flour into our meals in the future. The gummy will be expanded to represent the way our food may look like in the future if we are not aware of the problem and act on it sooner.
MIDTERM PROJECT
Looks Can Be Deceiving
Prep
Time: 30 minutes
Cook
Time: 5-10 minutes
Ingredients:
18 Dumpling skins
6 French fries
½ Frankfurter Würstchen
0.25lbs Mozzarella
Dried Parsley
Black Pepper
Salt
Water
Olive Oil
Directions:
1.) Cut frankfurter, mozzarella, and French fries to smaller pieces.
Combine all the minced ingredients then add dried parsley, black pepper, and
salt.
2.) Take around half a tablespoon of fillings or however much you need
to fill the dumpling skin without overflowing it. Dip your finger into a bowl
of water and wet the edges all around the dumpling skin.
3.) Pinch firmly on each edges of the dumpling skin to make sure it does
not fall apart later.
4.) Put the dumplings into the pot when the water starts to boil and
wait until the dumpling float onto the surface of the water. Check if the
dumplings are cooked then scoop them out when they are fully cooked.
5.) Brush some olive oil all over the dumplings before it cooled down to
prevent they from sticking and breaking.
6.) Place each dumplings on a spoon and serve it with a pair of
chopsticks, while each person sits apart and have their backs facing others.
Looks
Can Be Deceiving’s recipe is recipe that I created from blend cultural food. This
piece is a dish that depicts my personality trait, cultural, and ethnicity
identity. The foods are my cultures’ traditional dishes that I love and cannot
live without. The tableware that I chose to present my food relates to my cultural
background. The reason why the presentation of this dish requires people to be
seated separately and not facing anyone is because it gives each person their
own moment of solitude that I as a more introverted person prefer sometimes. It
also represents the confusion and loneliness I feel from being a cultured
person. Even though, I think of myself as an “international citizen” where I do
not just belong in one category and I am grateful for it, but there are times
where I wish I could know what it feels like to belong somewhere. The main
purpose of this dish is to bring awareness to people that not everything we see
is the real truth or everything there is to know. For example, when you see a
dumpling you may think of “Chinese cuisine” or “Asian food” in general, but
none of the ingredients for the filling inside the dumplings are Asian ingredients.
Therefore, looks can be deceiving so do not be too quick to assume or judge.
Chapter 10 of Lindsay Kelley’s BioArt Kitchen is about sanitation to bioremediation. It started off with the “Smog Tasting Meringue Recipe” which the ingredients were really interesting. This chapter of the book talking about ecology and our everyday home lives are connected and influenced by each other. The chapter mentioned a scientist named Ellen Swallow Richards from 1842-1911 and his effort to collaborate art and science as an approach to bioremediation. Pollution have always been an issue and according to the chapter, no artists or organizations were ever involved much in the issue but they did produce some artworks out of it, and that lead to the awareness of waking people around you up to work on an issue together.
Ellen Swallow Richards later on created the
Rumford Kitchen, which served lunch, coffee and tea to 10,000 people over a two
months length exhibition. I think using art as a form to educate people and to
inspired people to live and eat differently is a very thoughtful idea because
most people know about global warming and pollution nowadays but no one is
willing to be educated through lectures and the negative parts that they had
already been exposed to. It gets boring and stressful till the point no one
cares or do anything about it, but if we influence people’s mind sets of
lifestyles it can make them realize the good and change willingly.
Chapter 10 also stated that there are
people out there that hope for societal and environmental transformation
through a shift in technology, so in my opinion, I still think that our
environment have a chance of changing for the better if most people are
educated correctly and we are willing to change to make a difference, even if
the change may be uncomfortable. This chapter informs us about what we may be
consuming and how that may be dangerous for us. Richards tells that there were
never such things as completely pure and uncontaminated wilderness in our
ecosystem, therefore, I think it is even more important for us to look after
what we consume and what we are doing to our surroundings.
The connections between the content from
this chapter of the book and Mary Mattingly’s work are that both parties were
looking into and learning about our environment and how that affects our food
or other organisms that would later on affect us. They are both interested in making
the future better through an art-science based solution. They are also both
motivated through what they see, know, and continue to learn.
Basil
Basil is originated
from Africa and was domesticated in India, but is a popular herb for Italian
dishes. Basil can also be called Ocimum Basilicum. They are easy to maintain
both indoors and outdoors, and it loves the heat, but will die when frost hits.
Basil leaves have a solid glossy green appearance with pointy ends, and they
grow between 2 to 4 inches.
There are more than 60
different varieties of basil that have been identified and they all fall into
three main categories: sweet, purple, and bush. Each of the basils has a different
taste such as lemon, anise, and cinnamon. The leaves often have a downward curve with a
grooved appearance along the veins in the leaves. Basil combines well with
rosemary and thyme in meat dishes, fish, vegetables, cheese, soup, and eggs. It
is also one of the main ingredients in pesto, along with pine nuts and Parmesan
cheese. Basil contains a lot of nutrients, such as vitamin K, vitamin A,
vitamin C, iron, calcium, manganese, magnesium, and potassium.
Parsley
Parsley is an annual herb that originated from the central
Mediterranean region of Southern Europe. Parsley grows best in full sun or partial
shade, 22-30 degrees Celsius, and in moist soil. There are two basic kinds of
parsley: one with curly and crinkly leaves, and one that is flat. In general,
the curly pasley tastes quite bland and the flat parsley has a peppery and
bitter taste. Parsley contains vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin A, iron, and it is
high in fiber. Parsley is mainly use for garnish or cooked in stocks, soups,
and sauces. Parsley were also very sacred to the ancient Greeks; they used it
to adorn victors of athletic contest and to decorate the tombs of the deceased.
Bibliography:
http://foodfacts.mercola.com/parsley.html
Midterm Project Full Proposal
Concept- This project is about my struggle with my own cultural and ethnicity identity.
Medium- My Kitchen: Dumpling skin, bratwurst, fries, mozzarella, dried parsley, black pepper, water, and olive oil.
Timeline- Gathering Materials: Oct. 14 (Saturday)
Construction and Practice Run: Oct. 17 (Tuesday)
Final Presentation: Oct. 19 (Thursday)
Presentation- Simple but questionable and solitude and calming state
Challenges- My previous experiences with making dumplings often end up ripped, so in order to overcome that problem I need thicker dumpling skin and I am going to try to run cold water then brush olive oil on each of them, hoping them will not stick together.
Book Fair Review
I missed the first half of the panel discussion for the Food Sex Food | The Starving Artists' Cookbook because I had difficulty finding "The Classroom" in MoMA PS1. Therefore, I did my own research after visiting the show itself at the museum. Paul Lamarre and Melissa Wolf started "EIDIA," which stands for "Everything I Do Is Art" or "Every Individual Does Individual Art." The project was inspired by Lamarre's curiosity of what other starving artists were eating, since he was getting tired of beans and onions. Each time that other artists share their food, it is more than just food, because it is now a culture. After all, art is about process and food is also about process. In my opinion, the book fair was a very nice experience since I have not been to one for years. There were quite a selection of different books and I found two books that I really liked. I think that book fairs are a great way to interact and connect with the people and the community. Whether it is making a name for yourself or sharing your idea with the world. I would definitely visit another book fair in the future again.
Midterm Project Idea Proposal
Looks Can Be Deceiving
This photo depicts my addiction and bad life choices in the past. The colour of the bowl represents my love for nature and a colour that symbolize harmony and safety. The candies are like my addiction to pills and the coffee with salt makes something that looks so sweet and a stress reliever bitter and gross. Just like candies, a minimal consumption can be good or not harmful, but overdosing on it can cause damage to our body. This piece represent the lifestyle I had lived for years but now can proudly say I have overcome.
Plate of Identity
This photo depicts my cultural and ethnicity identity. The food are our traditional dishes that I love and cannot live without. The base that I chose to present my food have to relate to my hobbies. The reason they are presented together and not as separated individual photos is because I do not think I have different sides, I see myself as altogether and a combination of all cultures. The other reason why they are presented together is because I still have not quite figure where I belong, but I would like to think I am "international citizen."
Raw vs Cooked
I think what the anthropologist, Claude Levi-Strauss meant by his concept of "raw" and "cooked" was the natural way that we make/cook our food compared to the unnatural or traditional way of cooking. I think he also meant the natural and simple way food was made or consumed compared to our culture now with all the industrialized and modified food products. I think that artists that use it in their work are making a statement whether about political, social, economic, or any other issues they are concern about.
