CONCOCTION
an experimental collaboration between food and art Artists, Chefs and Furniture Designers 17 Whitmore St 6-14 DECEMBER 2014 Concoction is Elbowroom’s second production and exhibition in a vacant Wellington space. The idea emerged from a shared passion for contemporary art and food, and our desire to combine them into a thought-provoking experience delivered through a multi-disciplinary and collaborative show of creativity.
As producers and curators, we have invited a selection of emerging and established contemporary artists, talented designers and creative chefs to co-create a playful and interactive dining experience for the opening event on Saturday December 6th. Artists Cedric J. Barford, Riah King-Wall, Samin Son and Kathryn Tulloch each contribute responses that revolve around the dinner table, with multiple ‘courses’ to work alongside, or exist as, an artwork. Drawing from family experiences of sustenance during wartimes in South Korea, Son’s performance installation is an evocative work that challenges perspectives on what it is to be adequately nourished. Tulloch’s sculptural installation brings life into the space through a series of abstract formations that allude to common and familiar objects. Barford’s video work is a visual traverse from pleasant to disturbing as he employs a variety of liquids to play on correlations between the real poison of nature and artificial ingredients deemed palatable, while King-Wall presents an unusual platter to accompany intricate graphite drawings that serve as an inquiry into tensions between edible and inedible organisms. For the opening event, Concoction also brings into the fold emerging chefs Maria Hunt and Amber Sturtz - each creating a dish with distinct twists on the traditional and familiar that question the dynamics of fusion cuisine, cultivation of produce and it’s accessibility, while designers David Aravena & Chris Winwood, Matt Fanning, Tim Larkin, Duncan Sargent and Derek Winwood each contribute a purpose-made table to set the scene for this unusual dinner. Deviating from the conventional feast, the event uses the universality of food to spark conversations ranging from rituals of nourishment and social aspects of the dining table to critical implications of food production. Each contributor to the exhibition responds to the context of food, power and the dinner table to present a unique work that is specific to Concoction - together creating a multi-sensory encounter with food that leaves participants nourished in ‘stomach and spirit’. In line with our focus on facilitating participatory and immersive encounters with creative arts, we have asked all attendants of the opening event to bring their own chair to sit on for the evening and leave it behind at the end. During the week-long exhibition that followed, the chairs remained as a trace of each participant’s contribution to this ephemeral moment, a representation of the multitude of tastes, values and personalities who sat, ate and had conversations together at each table and slowly disappeared as owners came to collect them during the week. By connecting a broad range of people through the universality of food, Concoction is a bold and intriguing build on Elbowroom’s curatorial practice that seeks to surprise and experiment with shape and context of art exhibitions. In line with our unconventional approach to promoting the arts, Elbowroom has partnered with Urban Dream Brokerage to present Concoction in an unused space of Wellington. Thanks to Oscar Perry for photography at opening. Thanks to our generous sponsors and supporters. |