I wrote the below a few months ago, when a friend and I were
planning to do a little zine of sorts but never managed to get it together
enough. This happens sometimes, an
effort is put in with enthusiasm and intent and then it fizzles or fades as
life and time stretch you thin in the corresponding days. These unrealized goals are not failures
but more like exercises in possibilities.
Yes, the act of completion in some manifest form is desirable in most pursuits
but once in a while, the unfinished cutaways are what make new things possible
or old things remembered.
This idea of reassessing past ventures, ideas and those participating in
them (most vividly remembering one’s own self in these situations), is a nice
tool to re-anchor yourself when things feel so vast in the sea of life and the
what to dos.
I hope you enjoy the below, re-reading it made me breath a
little lighter in the face of all this input/output/push-pull that has wound me
tight and then deflated me like a beach ball of late. Relax, eat, sleep near someone you care for and make time
for friends, new and old.
(Written in mid January, 2012)
Food, food, food.
It’s been a part of the arts since the beginning. Those animals in the cave paintings were hunted
for a reason and painters and artisans throughout cultures and time have been
depicting gods, goddesses, last suppers, sins, status, and wealth through
symbols and icons of food. This fixation has of course continued into art’s
modern, postmodern, minimal, conceptual and whatever other movements along the
way from the twentieth century until today.
Why is this?
Who knows, maybe it’s just the desire to be utterly human, even with all
the baggage of our contemporized selves.
Maybe it’s the need to equalize art (which some argue is unnecessary) to
one of the most necessary things of all, eating. Some of the trends, and projects, of the ‘food in art’ trend
are bland to my taste and I want to spice things up by showing that this
interest in food has a long history and some fascinating recipes and
characters. In the end, food will be an everlasting subject that artists will
use, or disuse to their liking.
The below are a few recipes and food suggestions for the
special night in with family, friends, and art lovers. Bon appetite!
Appetizers
Aerofood (A signature Futurist
dish) - Pieces of olive, fennel, and kumquat are eaten with the right hand
while the left hand caresses various swatches of sandpaper, velvet, and silk.
At the same time, the diner is blasted with a giant fan (preferable an airplane
propeller) and nimble waiters spray him with the scent of carnation, all to the
strains of a Wagner opera. -
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti
Soups/ Stews
Temperamental
Pumpkin Soup - Pumpkins (roasted and pureed), Onions,
Vegetable Stock, Garlic, Coconut milk, Chipotle peppers (in adobe sauce), Curry
powder (Indian), Cinnamon, Sea salt, Honey, Mint (fresh) ~ In a big stock pot
sauté onions til caramelized/ Add curry powder/ Blend chipotle peppers and garlic/
Add to onion mixture/ Add vegetable stock/ Bring to a boil/ Add coconut milk/
Add pureed pumpkin and cinnamon/ Season with salt and a bit of honey to taste/
Reduce heat and let soup simmer till flavors are well integrated/ Garnish with
fresh chopped mint. - Rirkrit
Tiravanija
Gumbo – Make a “very
dark” roux, chicken, andouille sausage, okre, celery, garlic, whole peeled
tomatoes, bay leaves, hot sauce, salt, pepper. -inspired by Gordon Matta-Clark
Garlic Soup - Grate one clove of garlic into one pint of sweet milk/ Add
two tablespoonfuls of blanched raw peanuts, finely ground/ Let it stand for
one-half hour or more/ Strain it thru a sieve and pour upon flaked corn/ Season
with a pinch of salt and a dash of cayenne pepper or curry. - The early Bauhaus kitchen is
said to have prepared food according to Mazdaznan doctrines. Recipe from Mazdaznan Encyclopedia
Of Dietetics And Home Cook Book
Sandwiches
On a loaf of bread - Dark chocolate, sausage, gelatin,
margarine, and butter, press firmly and drizzle with honey and gold flecks -
inspired by Joseph Beuys
Czechoslovak-style hamburger stuffed with diced onion,
sprinkled with parsley, and always on white bread. Served with a 7-Up on ice. - Gerard Malanga recounts work
lunches with Andy Warhol made by Andy’s mother Julia
Desserts
John Cage Cookies - 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup ground almonds, 1 cup ground oats, 1 tsp cinnamon,
1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 cup maple syrup, 1/2 cup almond oil, 1 tsp vanilla,
1/2 cup pure fruit jam ~ Preheat the oven to 375
degrees / Mix together the dry ingredients, then mix together the wet
ingredients/ Fold all together/ Roll into small balls and place on a cookie
sheet/ Make a well in the center of each with thumb, then add a small dollop of
pure fruit jam/ Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until golden brown, turning the
cookie sheet back to front halfway through. - John Cage
Hashish Fudge - 1 tsp
black peppercorns, 1 whole nutmeg, 4 average sticks of cinnamon, 1 tsp
coriander. These should all be pulverized in a mortar. About a handful each of
stoned dates, dried figs, shelled almonds and peanuts: chop these and mix them
together. A bunch of Cannabis sativa can be pulverized. This along with the
spices should be dusted over the mixed fruit and nuts, kneaded together. About
a cup of sugar dissolved in a big pat of butter. Rolled into a cake and cut
into pieces or made into balls about the size of a walnut, it should be eaten
with care. Two pieces are quite sufficient. - Alice B. Toklas / Brion Gysin
Cool and Sweet Dessert - Gather all your favorite fruits of the season.
Make a fruit soup out of them. Freeze it in the freezer for the night, until it becomes icecubes. Cut the ice cubes and serve it with maple syrup and cinnamon. Make sure to chant an affirmation that this sweet desert will bring peace and love to the lives of all who eat it. My love is with you, too. yoko - Yoko Ono
Cool and Sweet Dessert - Gather all your favorite fruits of the season.
Make a fruit soup out of them. Freeze it in the freezer for the night, until it becomes icecubes. Cut the ice cubes and serve it with maple syrup and cinnamon. Make sure to chant an affirmation that this sweet desert will bring peace and love to the lives of all who eat it. My love is with you, too. yoko - Yoko Ono
Volcano Flambé - Dark chocolate ice cream with
almond sponge cake and banana mousse covered in Swiss meringue. Surround it
with dark chocolate crumbs and topped with spun sugar, then set it on fire with
dark rum. - Marina Ambromovic
Beverages
Water - Terence Koh’s favorite food
Dieting
Bread, dishes, flatware, ashtray,
wrappers, cloth napkins, cigarette butts, match, plastic plant, wood – [Can be
variations of other leftovers of another’s meal] - inspired by Daniel Spoerri
