A first time collaboration between furniture maker David Aravena and Architect Chris Winwood, Origami Table is a modular table system that can be arranged in multiple configurations to suit different occasions and conversations.
Kathryn Tulloch is an Auckland based artist who has just completed a Post Graduate Diploma at Elam School of FIne Arts. She won a merit award in the Molly Morpeth Canaday Art Award 2014 for her painting Going in and out, Grey and Yellow. Why did you want to be a part of this collaboration on food and power? I'm interested in everyday actions and choices. I also really enjoy cooking and gardening. In my practice in general I am interested in shifting states of awareness, formlessness and the different ways in which meaning and presence can interrelate. In Concoction I'm thinking about debris as a signal to a phase, a material phase of something breaking down and then slowly becoming something other. In relation to the theme of food and power debris has been elevated, investigated, suspended and extended in my work to the process of soil production, which could be seen as the end or the start of the food cycle often forgotten or overlooked when consuming as it is the useless, not easily commodifiable, uneatable part. Absorption, congealing and layering are as important to the making process as my thinking and mental pictures of how soil, plants, and waste, and mental thought and organising interact. Maria Hunt finds time to share with us what she has been up to...
I did culinary training at Auckland Hotel and Chef Training School in 2012, where I took part and won gold at the Auckland Regional Culinary Fare. During my training, my work experience at One Tree Grill Restaurant turned into a part time job as a trainee chef. In 2013, I studied first year of a BA in Culinary Arts at AUT University and did okay (ahem, TOP student ;-P). But I decided to put studies on hold and work full time at One Tree Grill. In 2013-14 I took part in the Real Pasifik TV series with Robert Oliver, working with him to raise the profile of Polynesian food culture and into the arena of fine dining. Following along these lines, I’m really interested in switching up Pacific Island cuisine and showing off distinct flavours and produce that are typically misconceived or ignored by the masses. Why am I taking part in Concoction? This is a really good opportunity to experiment with my creative side of cooking, showing off the versatility of a staple in Samoa (the mighty coconut), while also addressing the deeper issues of produce, how and where it’s made available and who drives it’s demand in Western society. We asked Duncan Sargent to tell us a little bit about himself:
I have been interested in the intersection of art, design and craft for a while but to add food to mix seemed too good an opportunity to miss. After I graduated from Ilam School of Fine Arts I worked in film and theatre for a few years. That’s when I started experimenting with objects and furniture design. I began my own business as designer/maker in Newtown about 20 years ago. The majority of my work is to order. I have participated in shows at Dowse Art Museum, Hawke’s Bay Museum and Art Gallery, City Gallery Wellington, Shapeshifter (all of them) and Headlands Sculpture on Waiheke Island. My recent commissioned work includes Te Papa, and E Tu Awakairangi Hutt Public Art Trust. Amber has just finished a qualification at Weltec to become a chef, although she has been cooking at home and for friends for years. Her passion is for beautiful food of all flavours and world influences, with a focus on sustainable, seasonal and local.
Hailing from Austin, Texas, Amber is heavily influenced by Tex-Mex cuisine, but enjoys creating food from her travels around the world. She currently works part time at Ti Kouka Cafe and Leeds St Bakery, and as a casual chef for Ruth Pretty Catering. She enjoys experimenting and creating dishes with ingredients that can be found in New Zealand, with an emphasis on nutrition and well-being. Inspired by sequestered historical narratives and scientific inquiry, Riah King-Wall's work is heavily influenced by classical European portraiture methods and specimen drawing. Her past work has examined the roles of women in entomological and paleontological fields, consistently probing their historical circumscription with the inter-connectivity of visual arts and science. Her current practice of large scale botanical specimens continues to hint at such anecdotal relationships, exploring the part scientific drawings played in the development of food practices.
Riah King-Wall completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts (First Class Honours) at Massey University in 2013. She is currently working towards her Masters in Museum and Heritage Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. -When asked about her participation in the show: Why I'm taking part in Concoction... Scientific development over the past few hundred years has widely increased separation between the creation and consumption of food. This has deeply influenced our current eating patterns and comforts. Concoction is an exciting space to venture questions and discussions around capitalist systems, the power of food science as an industry, and its part in shaping our culture. Cedric J. Barford
Surfacing from the undergrowth, an indie filmmaker who collaborates with different musicians and artists alike, on projects such as music videos and short films. Taking a science and installation approach to artwork, tethering many years worth of creative community experiences. -When asked about his participation in the show: My view is we don't have easy say in what's in our food these days. Really what is in our food? Elbowroom, the moving gallery, presents a thought-provoking encounter with food through Concoction – an experimental collaboration between food and art. Elbowroom’s second exhibition, Concoction, is an exciting platform to delve into more critical debates surrounding food and power. Taking a multidisciplinary approach to co-create a playful and interactive dining experience followed by an exhibition, Elbowroom brings together emerging and established artists, designers and chefs to deliver contemporary artworks, furniture design and food to spark conversations ranging from rituals of nourishment, characters and narratives of the dining table to social implications of production, distribution and agency. Artists Cedric J. Barford, Riah King-Wall, Samin Son and Kathryn Tulloch each contribute unique 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 dining experience. 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. In line with their unconventional approach to promoting the arts, Elbowroom has partnered with Urban Dream Brokerage to present Concoction in an unused space of Wellington - open to the public from December 7th-14th. Opening hours are Wednesday – Friday from 12-5pm and weekends from 11am-4pm. The opening event on December 6th - which will accommodate a limited number of people - promises to be a multi-sensory encounter with food not to be missed. To secure your participation, head to the 'Upcoming' page to RSVP. |