The biggest benefit of working on a project like Serve & Project is meeting interesting people from all over the world. Last week Lisa and I Skyped with Erik Benjamin, the Cyber Feaster who interpreted the dessert delight Hamantaschen. Lisa and I were impressed not only with what Erik brought to the Cyber Feast project but his compelling and thoughtful creative work. Visit Erik's website here.

Food for Thought and Brilliant !

So interested in this piece by artist Raul Ortega Ayala, Living Remains.
Check out these brilliant works shown at the Stroom Den Haag ; the Hague.

The (Second Best) Hamantaschen in the World

I have successfully completed phase 2 of my online search for the best, and second best hamantaschen in the world. Here are some pictures of how they turned out. Napkin evaluation to come!

Life as a Dinner

Last evening, Lisa and I "dined" with our second guest, Cal, from San Francisco, CA. While we all met, I began thinking about the parallels that exist between life and dining. Each person at the table references family and friends met throughout our lives. And the experiences learned can act as fuel to cultivate positive human exchange.

Thank you Cyber Feasters !

Our first Skype meeting !

Last sunday, at 7 est, Lisa and I conducted our first Skype meeting for Cyber Feast II with participant Jonell Pulliam. We talked, laughed and began a dialogue with a new friend.
Thank you.

The Best Hamantaschen in the World

Hello All,

I wanted to share with you the first part of my submission for CyberFeast II. I consider this the first part of a two part project, which uses a rationale grounded in absurdity to explore the internet's present day role as cooking aide/recipe database.

Using the Hamantaschen as a starting point, I queried google to find "the best hamantaschen in the world". The posted napkin image documents my amateurish, dry and formulaic rationale utilized to validate the best and second best recipes.

Part II will conclude in my attempts at cooking, tasting, and rating the second best hamantaschen in the world.

Thanks all - so happy to be a part of this.
Erik

Cal's Video

"I was inspired by the cooking show style of the piece from Cyberfeast 1, and utilized found videos of Cong You Bing coupled with my own culinary creations and instructions to create my own "how-to" guide to making Chinese style pancakes. The piece uses both the sterility of the instructions coupled with playful food "animation" to create a comical and thorough review of this food item."

--Calcagno Cullen

Hamentaschen!

I had a lovely time creating/sculpting/baking Hamentaschen. I don't usually cook or bake - particularly not in the summer - so although it was only a small dessert, this was quite an experiment for me. The shopping alone felt like a ritual! Then late saturday night - technically sunday - I started gathering and mixing and rolling and cooking. (Not entirely unlike a late night studio session!)

As I mixed and stirred, I honestly wasn't sure it would work out. I didn't know when the dough was ready, versus just ingredients. It was almost like that moment where you wonder - is it art? I scorned sifting, whisking, and power mixing! This was the labor of my hands alone! (Well, ok, I don't have any of that equipment...) And soon enough my fiance fell asleep so I was on photo and baking duty.

The first batch came out tasty, but a bit bulky. I rolled thinner dough and used more jam (usually this would be poppy seed filling but I wanted to improvise with the jams I rarely use). It was fun to shape the triangles, like little hats. Once baked, I feasted first, then in true asynchonous/digital fashion, arranged future feasts for 1. my fiance 2. our friend who ran a marathon and was STARVING afterward 3. a friend in New Jersey.

Text/in person/phone responses: "Tasty treats!" "Can't wait to eat these" and "I wish there were more!"

Teaching Learning- Food and Collaboration

Suzanne Lacy, "Crystal Quilt photographs," 1987, 1 of a series of 36 photographs, 16 x 20" each.


Jonell Pulliam's last post- describing chance and inclusive creativity, made me think about the happenings of 1960’s and Suzanne Lacy. As luck would have it, I found this post on U Tube which documents parts of a conversation between Suzanne Lacy and her mentor Judy Chicago. Both women are known for merging creative acts with social relevance.

Four Simple Ingredients: A Happening for Cyberfeast II continues this synergy. The gathering together of inter generational people, involving food and encouraging an open creative space are entwined in Serve & Project’s mission.
-Io Palmer

Four Simple Ingredients: A Happening for CyberFeast II

I was really excited to participate in CyberFeast II. Four Simple Ingredients: A Happening was inspired by Appetizer - The Wine Tasting that Became my Banquet; an event from CyberFeast I. As an avid bread maker and visual artist, I was particularly interested in the idea of Amish Friendship bread – a key element in that event. I liked the idea of simple elements coming together to create a delicious outcome. I also appreciated the notion of chance that was an element of that event. Chance is a part of my art making process.

Four Simple Ingredients was based on process of making friendship bread: simple materials, basic instruction, sharing creative energy, and collaboration. Our charge for the evening was to create a work of art that was somehow inspired by the food, conversations, and diverse artistic perspectives assembled at the Happening. Participants were invited to set up shop anywhere in the house, work individually or collaboratively, and use any materials available.

Ten people - artists, young designers, educators, and parents - attended the Four Simple Ingredients. The event began with a pot-luck dinner, that was collaboratively prepared or served. The menu included:

Appetizers:

Fruit Salad with homemade yogurt dip

Assorted Cheeses, Dips, breads

Entrée:

Green Salad

Pasta with Italian Sausage and Garlic

Red Rice

Lime Roasted Chicken

Variety of Wines

Dessert:

Dump Cake

After dinner, the group organically divided up into the various spaces of the house and began creating art. The resulting work included ink and paper assemblage by artist Lynne Riding; a Bomb Pop painting by Andre Barbosa; a found-fabric skirt by Anika and Egyptt; an ink and graphite drawing by artist Kimberly McHenry-Williams; photo embroidery by Donna Hurt; a food painting by creative Germaine Jenkins; and an embroidered paper collaborative project by Amy Reed. I am currently working on the next phase of the project - napkins - inspired by the experience of the evening.

        

   

        

Everyones Favorite Table Setting

Judy Chicago's Dinner Party was produced between 1974 and 1979 is an elaborate project that pays homage to actual and mythical women in history. At the table are 39 table settings that include a range of crafts, plates, runners, and eating utensils. In Judy's words, this project started as a simple homage to "twenty-five women who were eaten alive".

Happy preparing !

(quote source Wikipedia)

Rirkrit Tiravanija- an artist known for his food

Rirkrit Tiravanija, a contemporary artist born in Buenos Aires, Argentina , is known for the lavish meals he prepares in gallery spaces and served to viewers. Through cooking and serving, Tiravanija's work explores the role of artists in society. The artwork then becomes the making, production and serving of food. While the end result may be a photograph or a memory.
Relational artists such as Rirkrit explore a range of social relationships by producing art that questions and blurs boundaries that exist within art production.

Visit: http://newarttv.com/Rirkrit+Tiravanija

Cyberfeast II Confirmed Participants

Michel Auder. "Dinner is Served"
27 February – 14 March 2010

_________________________________

We are excited to of gathered together the following cyber feasters.

Below includes each participant thus far with websites. Check out all the creative work being done by each participant. We welcome you to post any work in progress or articles of interest and we look forward to Skyping with you all in the coming months.
Sincerely,
Io (Pullman, WA) and Lisa (Boston, MA)
Serve & Project,

CyberFeast II: Participants (as of July 12)

Erik Benjamins

http://erikbenjamins.com/Main/index.html.html

Calcagno Cullen

www.telephoneheart.com

Cyberfeast I reference: Con You Bing

Bill Fisher

http://billfisher.dreamhost.com/nohate.html

Liora Kushner

(professional caterer)

Cyberfeast I reference: Hamantashen

Jonell Pulliam

www.jjpulliam.com

Cyberfeast I reference: The Wine Tasting that

Became my Banquet, Amish Friendship Bread

Courtney Lee Weida

http://sites.google.com/site/courtneyleeweidaresearch/

Cyberfeast I reference: Hamantashen

Call for Participation

Cyberfeast  II– Call for participation (FREE)
serveandproject@gmail.com
 
Call for artist participants in a multi-disciplinary art project that  engages community in dialogue about the making, production and consumption of food, through workshops, gallery exhibitions, and new for 2010,  a series of "cyber feasts".
 
For Cyberfeast II artists Io Palmer and Lisa Link invite people to participate through our Blog and Skype .  Artwork on the blog will be presented as part of the project  " Here, There and Everywhere: The Art of Collaboration –"  during the TransCultural Exchange’s 2011 Conference on International Opportunities in the Arts in Boston, 2011.
 
If you are interested in participating,write to us at: serveandproject@gmail.com
We will send you a specific set of pre-banquet art activities developed out of the "menu" developed in Cyberbanquet #1, February 2010.
 
Formats for the creative pre-cyberbanquet activity may include sculpture, painting, drawing, performance, and documentation of ingredients/food vendor sources all based on the "menu" theme that will be discussed with participants prior to the Cyberfeasts.
 
CyberFeasts  will take place during the summer of 2010, TBA depending on time zones of participants.  Requirements include access to Skype, an interest in collaborative art, connecting with other artists, food, and internet art "happenings".

serveandproject@gmail.com


 

Cyber Banquet Festivities from Pullman, Washington

Our Cyber Banquet, in the small town of Pullman, Washington became a festive space for entertainment, dialogue, history, and humor.

My thanks to dinner guests, artists
Reza Safavi and Kevin Haas.