Why isn’t anybody interested in the shopping bill in supermarkets? Yes, they are cramming the wallet – but just think of a journey, when all in the sudden, those bills can become a precious memory and people start saving them as if they were valuable souvenirs? If you lay out the bills of a month, you can combine the date, the time, the place, and the things bought with the things that happened around it. But the everyday memories are not of an interest? Particularly, other people’s shopping bills can inspire stories about their lives and offer clues about their way of life. A cashier sees all the things people from different backgrounds and ‘classes’ buy, which may, at times, be really private. Did you ever think about what kind of impression you make when putting your groceries on the conveyor?
The Mexican artist Gabriel Kuri is often using shopping bills in his art. Check this out:
Gabriel Kuri, Untitled, 2008, collage on paper, 29,5 x 26 cm
Gabriel Kuri, Mexican grocery receipts, tapestry, 2008, detail
Gabriel Kuri, s.a., at Art Basel Miami Beach
Filed under: 4/5, Art, Bread, Design, Food, Workshop | Tags: artifact, consumption, event, experimental, food, handicraft, identity, local, näkkileipä, participatory, season
The invitations for the 4th event are ready and sent out to three people plus my tutor Cathérine. Antto and Salla will also pick three people of their choice for the event, so that we will have many new faces coming together. The 10 guests will first participate in making edible objects together with us in a mini-workshop and then, we will be joined by their avecs two hours later.
I am excited about our list of guests and the menu! It will be inspired by Finnish local handicraft, seasonal ingredients, popular objects, and traditional recipes, and be executed by the guests, Antto, Salla, and me.
George Carlin, who was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, author, and actor, raging about stuff. He is noted for often touching taboo topics of American culture and commenting on contemporary political issues. A good laugh! (And thanks Colby for the hint! :)
Filed under: Art, Design, Handicraft, Workshop | Tags: artifact, education, event, experimental, handicraft, participatory, stitching
Just got home from an amazing night of stitching, dreaming, chatting, having (anti stress) tea and cookies. The ‘Stitch your dreams’ event took place tonight at Taik. I had invited students from my school to come by and stitch their dreams on a tablecloth, and it was a big success.
After the first people had arrived, Sari from the Anarchistic Marttas started to show us some basic stitching methods. Soon, more of my fellow students came by, from all sorts of different departments – Graphic Design, Researchers in Fine Art and Product Design, Environmental Art, Furniture Design, Textile Design, and Industrial Design and various countries: Austria, France, Canada, Finland, USA, Japan, Thailand, Korea, China, and England (wow, I had not realized that almost everybody came from a different country!).
The tablecloth turned out beautiful with lots of different words, drawings, sentences, stories, and dreams, all stitched in different individual styles. It will be part of the 2/5:GROW installation, which I will install tomorrow during the day. People can still finish their stitchings during the day tomorrow. In the afternoon (around 4 pm, gotta leave to a class after), I will sow cress seeds on the tabletop, which will grow during the week until they will be harvested in a final dinner next week. But the hanging parts of the table cloth can be stitched on during the whole installation. So, welcome!
Thanks to Sari for her kind instructions, Linda for her big help today, Osse and Are for the technical support, 5th floor for the hot water, Martin for borrowing the table top, Cathérine for everything, and to everyone who came for participating! A picture gallery can soon be found on Picasa, stay tuned for the update! :)
The rye sourdough root is taking a sunbath on this beautiful morning.
While these flour packages from a small producer in Iittala are taking a rest on the orange kitchen table.
Empty wine bottles from our Mayflower party about 2 weeks ago. Lots of untold stories to be told about farewells, welcomes, birthdays, and new companions. Maybe, there will be an unexpected reunion.
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