<div dir="ltr"><div>Hi all,</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks Amanda for inviting me to participate in this critical discussion on Food and Art. I was already following works of few of the participating artists, and I am happy to get introduced to the rest through this platform. I have been following the discussion all throughout and feel enriched to know the various concerns that are being addressed through food.</div><div><br></div><div>Food has bee one of the oldest platform of exchange. Our dependence on food is something that connects us all over the world. At the same time, different ways of cooking and preparations to eat is also something that sets us apart. But over the years there has been a tremendous change in the way we understand, grow, eat and share food. In such a scenario, how does one connects her/himself with their cultural identity, of which food is one of the integral parts.</div><div>Coming from from India, I had often seen food as one of the important factors during community gatherings. There are particular rituals to be followed for specific food preparations for certain occasions. This is how we get out memories of food. Now that I am independent and cook for myself, I often find cooking, family recipes in accordance to what I am missing/feeling at that moment.</div><div>Food does express itself through several memories from the past and keeps building new ones. I was interested in this aspect of food where it does talk about nutrition, agriculture, sociology and anthropology, but also talk about everyday emotions, feelings and desires and introspect about human behavior.</div><div><br></div><div>I have been doing food performances for some years now, and use it as a tool to bring people together and create a situation where they are free to express themselves. The interaction of the viewers with the work is very important to my process and incorporating language was obvious. As a child, I have fond memories of casting different forms and shapes with mango pulp in the Summer holidays. Most of these forms were made using kitchen utensils like spoons, bowls and glasses. Once dried we all were asked to pick one form and we could eat it. The idea of edible cutlery was so exciting for me that it gave way to several of my food performances. The first work <a href="http://shilparangnekar.com/portfolio/jalebi/" target="_blank">Sugarcoated (Morals)</a> was my 1st community art experience, and what I observed was that when the food and language are used together it connects with people at various levels. Different people react in different ways and all of it becomes a part of the work. The introspective nature of the work allows the viewers to engage and then interact with others to share their experience.</div><div><br></div><div>Briefing about my artistic practice cannot be completed without introducing you all about <a href="http://sandarbh.org/" target="_blank">Sandarbh</a>, currently situated in Partapur, a small town in Southern Rajasthan. Initiated in 2003, Sandarbh is an artists' initiative that presents new creative contexts for both local communities and contemporary artists to experience art in new ways. Through residencies and workshops we have coordinated several interactive projects that have been evolved through the indigenous needs. While curating <a href="https://theprojectequilibrium.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Equilibrium</a>, a beautiful project <a href="https://theprojectequilibrium.wordpress.com/works/meherun-sumi-akhter/" target="_blank">Pehli Wakhat </a>was done by Meherun Akhter (Bangladesh) in collaboration with women members of self-help groups from Semaliya village. The project talks about the first attempt at sharing culture, friendship, experiences and memories through food.</div><div><br></div><div>More about some very interesting food projects from India, and my upcoming project with Sandarbh in my next mail.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>- Shilpa</div><div><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Mar 29, 2016 at 1:35 AM, Amanda McDonald Crowley <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:amandamcdc@gmail.com" target="_blank">amandamcdc@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------<br>
Hello again!!<br>
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So I know I am a bit late off the mark to introduce our final two discussants. The cat is doing well, for anyone interested. And thanks for the off list suggestions about diet -- you know who you are ;)<br>
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Yesterday I ruminated a little about art-as-life, or life-as-art and how artists who (among other things) address issues of food systems in their practice, in a sense directly affected by their lived experience.<br>
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I am also still deeply interested in ideas of collaboration and more specifically cross disciplinary practice in this field of inquiry.<br>
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In our final week, I am delighted to introduce Natalie Jeremijenko and Shilpa Rangnekar, two conceptual artists who have a long history of working with food. We have heard from several artists who prepare and serve food as part of their practice, as a methodology for engaging audiences directly in a larger discussion. I hope that Natalie and Shilpa might build on that conversation in a discussion of some of their projects where they literally invite their audiences to consume their art, as acts of environmental inquiry, generosity, and sharing in ways that only food can do!<br>
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Marina Zurkow and Stefani Bardin, in week one, began a discussion of their NYC food mapping project. In this final week, I hope they might also share more information on some of their own art projects that address our food systems (that they didn't have the bandwidth to share during week one, due to other commitments).<br>
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And of course, I hope that any of our other discussants, as well as any of you on the list who wish to follow up on any conversations you would like to have more feedback on, or on which you would like to add commentary, or other writing or work that you would like to draw to our attention, might also pipe in.<br>
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As a reminder, I am re:pasting Natalie and Shipa's bios below.<br>
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best<br>
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Amanda<br>
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__SNIP__<br>
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Natalie Jereminjenko (AUS, US) is an Associate Professor in the Visual Art Department, NYU <<a href="http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/faculty_bios/view/Natalie_Jeremijenko" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/faculty_bios/view/Natalie_Jeremijenko</a>> and affiliated with the Computer Science Dept. and Environmental Studies program. In 2014 VIDA Art and Artificial Life International Awards Pioneer Prize was awarded to Natalie Jeremijenko “for her consistently brilliant portfolio of work over the past two decades.” (a prize only awarded once before to Laurie Anderson). She was also granted Most Innovative People award in 2013, most influential women in technology 2011 <<a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/women-in-tech/2011/brainiacs/natalie-jeremijenko" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.fastcompany.com/women-in-tech/2011/brainiacs/natalie-jeremijenko</a>>, one of the inaugural top young innovators by MIT Technology Review and 40 most influential designers Jeremijenko directs the Environmental Health Clinic <<a href="http://environmentalhealthclinic.net/farmacy/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://environmentalhealthclinic.net/farmacy/</a>>—facilitating public and lifestyle experiments that can aggregate into significant human and environmental health benefits.<br>
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Shilpa Rangnekar (IN) is an Indian conceptual artist working with a multidisciplinary approach for socially engaged art and research practices. She is particularly interested in observations of everyday life and associated behaviors, which either comes out in the form of utilitarian Art, food performances or very expressive and engaging community oriented projects. She has post graduated from Hyderabad Central University in 2008 with MVA in Painting and holds a BFA in Painting from M.S.U, Baroda (2005). Since 2010, Shilpa has been working as a coordinating artist for Sandarbh Artist Residency- a context for experimenting with artistic processes, and exploring new modalities of viewership and public participation in art. Arts Network Asia, the Asia Europe Foundation and Trans Europe Halles generously supported one of her recent project Equilibrium. She has participated in residency programs in Germany, South Korea, and India and recently at the Bemis Center for Contemporary arts in USA. Rangnekar lives and works in Jaipur, India.<br>
<a href="http://shilparangnekar.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://shilparangnekar.com</a><br>
<a href="http://theprojectequilibrium.wordpress.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://theprojectequilibrium.wordpress.com</a><br>
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--<br>
Amanda McDonald Crowley<br>
Cultural Worker / Curator<br>
<a href="http://publicartaction.net" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://publicartaction.net</a><br>
<br>
@amandamcdc<br>
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_______________________________________________<br>
empyre forum<br>
<a href="mailto:empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au">empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au</a><br>
<a href="http://empyre.library.cornell.edu" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://empyre.library.cornell.edu</a><br>
</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><font color="#666666"><a href="http://shilparangnekar.com" target="_blank">shilparangnekar.com</a></font></div><div><font color="#666666"><br></font><div><font color="#666666">Coordinating artist</font></div><div><font color="#666666">Sandarbh</font></div><div><font color="#666666"><a href="http://www.sandarbh.org" target="_blank">www.sandarbh.org</a></font></div><div><a href="http://theprojectequilibrium.wordpress.com" target="_blank">theprojectequilibrium.wordpress.com</a></div><div><font color="#666666"><br></font></div><div><font color="#666666">My new number is </font><div><font color="#666666">+91 7568-456201</font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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