February 24, 2006
Green Salad with Apple Dressing and Camembert Toasts &
Crepes with Fresh Strawberry Marmalade and Marcapone Cream
Interview with Guillaume Charras
Performance Photos
Cooking and talking on the phone just don’t mix, at least not for me anyway. I’m an ok multi-tasker when I have to be, but immersive concerns such as learning a new recipe, or having a conversation with a dear friend, really need undivided attention. Despite this knowledge, I picked up a ringing phone while preparing crepe batter, and I paid the price. I think I did ok by my friend, but forgot the eggs in the crepe recipe, and they turned out like heavy little pancakes. They tasted fine, especially all slathered up in strawberry marmalade and sweet cheese, but weren’t at all what I intended. Sorry Ben! But people seemed to enjoy them anyway along with that simple but tasty green salad, and delicious cheese. Openings are stressful for me, even though they end up being more about socializing than art. A tightly packed gallery doesn't leave much space to breathe anything in too deeply, but the artist is still essentially on display. It’s always challenging to put work out into the world, as it means exposing a good-sized piece of my heart in the process. So these events are always easier when there are friendly and supportive faces in the crowd. Thanks to everyone who braved the wicked cold to join us this evening. I hope a good time was had by all.
February 23, 2006
Blueberry Boy Bait
My performance has become a comforting ritual. Upon arrival, I make tea for myself and the interns, set-up the equipment, turn on Halsey’s music, and begin cooking. Halsey’s composition is comprised of voices and stories of all the folks we interviewed woven together with a masterful arrangement of music, around various aspects of food. It’s the theme song to our cooking show. I think I’ve listened to the powerful 30 minute piece at least 60 times by now, and with each instance I discover something new and wonderful. I love how this music has created a community of voices.
A number of people have mentioned to me that they have spent time at our table specifically to focus on the music, and they were moved by what they heard. Art needs our time and concentration to reach deep inside of us. Museums and galleries often don’t provide contemplative space, and we are often rushed through exhibitions too fast to absorb the creative energy on display before us. I’m pleased that the “kitchen” table and chairs of our set provided not just a gathering place to eat food, but also served as a site for reflection. Luckily, you can listen to Variations on the Theme of Food, any time in the privacy of your very own homes, and to hear more amazing music created by my incredibly talented better half on this project, please visit halseyburgund.com. Oh yeah, the blueberry boybait, was HEAVENLY. Make some for yourself on a cold winter Sunday morning…and eat it in all snuggled up in your cozy warm bed.
February 18, 2006
Spicy Vegetarian Chili and Corn Bread with Golden Raisins &
Cantaloupe Sorbet with Melon Confetti Compote
Performance Photos
I am not an actively social person, I will admit. I hardly ever strike up conversations with strangers, despite loving to talk to new people about pretty much anything. And the last place I would typically start talking to someone is in the middle of an art gallery. Nonetheless, I suppose this is what Leah and I are trying to encourage.
This particular performance was a wonderful example of a bit of success we had in this arena. There were something like a dozen people who were in the gallery this day, few of whom knew each other, yet we all sat down to eat some of the most delicious chili and cornbread ever created and ended up talking about everything from punk-singing parrots to various conspiracy theories regarding Texas lawyer-hunting. I came away from the performance marveling in the undisputable fact that had I been in the gallery under 'normal' circumstances - just there to view art hanging on walls and standing on the floor - I never would have met these interesting people. I would have kept to myself, looked at the art and left. End of story.
I wanted to share with you comments of one other participant that were made on the "Cheap Thrills - Boston" email list, as less-biased opinions are always a nice thing to have! Thanks, Rob.
"I was expecting a rigid, intellectual, stereotypically 'arty' performance with food -- like a cooking demonstration from Yoko Ono. It was much warmer, more pleasant (and delicious) experience. As part of an exhibit called 'Thread Counts Project', the most compelling piece comes alive every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday afternoon. Leah Gauthier and Halsey Burgund have created a multi-media experience about food being a common thread among people, and how people come together through food. The artists actually cook 2 dishes for you while you listen to music composed for the piece. Amazing and -- again -- delicious; it's a small gallery, but there are several interesting pieces to give some time to. In the end, I walked out feeling like I was part of the 'performance', but that was cool... "
February 17, 2006
Double Peanut Double Chocolate Chip Cookies &
Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream
Interview with Barbara Spiegelman
Interview with David Spiegelman
Performance Photos
I am freezerless. So when I arranged this menu, I was counting on the bitter chill of a New England winter night to provide the ice for my ice cream. But today was unseasonably warm, and the dessert failed. This morning I noticed a forsythia bush in bloom, a sight that normally brings spring to my heart instead caused distress. It’s too soon. The trees are confused, and I feel confused by the strange weather too. When I arrived at the gallery it was 50 degrees and cloudy. By the time I popped the first batch of cookies into the oven 30 minutes later, a torrential rain storm hit, followed immediately by a wash of sunshine, and a sharp drop in temperature back well below freezing. I felt like I was inside of a climate machine gone amuck. I fear the damage we are causing this planet is driving nature to the breaking point.
The combination of chocolate and peanut butter is one of my favorites, but the cookies were a bit dry. I realized that I always buy natural peanut butter and drain off of the oil as I don’t like the mess of stirring it in. So either don’t use natural peanut butter, or keep the oil in, and the recipe should be fine. Halsey has a trick to turn the jar upside down in the pantry for a week before opening to let the oil incorporate itself back in. I just tried this for myself and it works beautifully.
February 16, 2006
Leek, Potato, and Tarragon Soup &
Asparagus Soup with Parmesan Custards
Interview with Martin Schmaltz
Performance Photos
"making love is not just becoming as one, or even two, but becoming as a hundred thousand." Deleuze and Guattari, The Anti-Oedipus
What does this have to do with soup? Maybe nothing, maybe everything-- but my Death of Painting class, guests of our performance today, has spent the last number of weeks deconstructing portions of The Anti-Oedipus and relating it back to our art practices. This material is dense, but fascinating. Deleuze and Guattari discuss desire specifically as a creative force rather than a lack which compels us to consume.
Today my desire was to make two kinds of delicious soup, asparagus and potato leek, and to share it with my classmates. Cooking to me is definitely a creative act, and an art form. Just like painting, sculpture or cinema, soup has compositional elements such as color, form, texture, and in addition, taste. And striking an aesthetic balance of these "ingredients" requires some mastery of process and materials. Anyway, we had a pleasant and relaxed afternoon. I heard stories of Grandmother’s stuffed tomatoes, and Hungarian goulash made as a last meal for a dying man, who relinquished life before he was able to enjoy it. Sincere thanks to Ron Rizzi for your support of our work, for listening to Halsey’s music with great care and attention, and for re-locating our class session to the gallery so we could enjoy the art of soup, and the company of one another. Did my potato leek soup rival the Mona Lisa? I suppose it all depends on what you hunger for. Too bad Leonardo wasn’t around to lend his opinion.
February 11, 2006
Vegetable Samosa with Green Chutney & Aloo Pulao
Performance Photos
Three of my worlds (Maine, The Museum School & MIT) collided over samosa and pulao today. It was wonderful to have so many friendly faces around the table—I’m grateful. I enjoy introducing my friends to each other, mostly because they are all really cool and interesting people, and good energy is better shared. Happily, everyone seemed to enjoy each other, Halsey's music, and the food.
I have been completely head down since moving to Boston for graduate school a year and a half ago. Between classes, teaching, art making, and earning a living, there has been precious little time for socializing, yet the amazing thing is despite lack of conscious effort, roots have grown anyway. I’ve formed supportive relationships here, and find myself a member of various communities just by virtue of where, and with whom, I’ve consistently placed my energy. A big reason for our decision to do so many performances, beyond the desire to honor each one of our interviewees, was to find out if the same thing would happen with our work, over time, in this space.
A note about the food - Indian food has been tricky for me for some reason in the past. My efforts have always tasted good, but never turned out as well as what I’m served in a restaurant. However, I learned that making a paste with the spices before adding them to the dish, and providing a few different kinds chutneys for further layering of flavors made all of the difference. Also, I decided at the last minute not to deep fry in the gallery, since the space is so small, and replaced the samosa recipe that appears on this site with Molly Katzen’s baked samosa recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook. They were a big hit! Thanks everybody for a wonderful afternoon!
February 10, 2006
Fresh Blueberry Pie with Cinnamon Almond Crust
Performance Photos
Blueberry pie will forever be held in the lore of the Burgund family due to the debatably innocent, but certainly hilarious, behavior of my sister way back in the late 1970s. You’ll have to listen to Variation E to hear the full story, but suffice it to say that if you are at all susceptible to the humor that unintentionally lies in kid’s behavior, you will enjoy it. To this day, no one can so much as mention blueberry pie without me getting a grin on my face. It think this is what is so amazing about the experience of food together as a family. Nightly dinners together as a group, shared likes and dislikes, incessant complaints about culinary skill, you name it, all provide a pretty amazing glue in a family, I think.
In my case, the blueberry pie story will always reign supreme, but what I learned by interviewing people for this piece, was that most families have their own blueberry pie. It might not be funny; it might be serious, mundane or even scary, but it seems that there is something about the rote activites of survival that when done habitually as a group effect people deeply.
I'm hoping that my sister forgives me for publicizing her evil-doings!
February 09, 2006
Pancit
Interview with Katheen Miranda
It is bitter cold outside and cold in the gallery today too, a perfect day to make soup. This dish is comprised of humble ingredients, noodles, broth, mushrooms, cabbage and carrots, and it is delicious. Another artist in the show, Jae ate with us at the table today. She commented after tasting, that Pancit is similar to Pho, a Vietnamese noodle dish. I wonder where in culinary history those two dishes connect. We are both doing some work at the intersection of art and science, using live plants as a means of investigation. We discussed hydroponics, book sources and names of scientists we’ve corresponded with, and expressed a desire to further our discussion at a later date. We also talked about how we both enjoy cooking and how important nesting, or making a home has become to both of us, in spite of the transitory life of graduate students, and uncertainty of what lies ahead.
February 04, 2006
Bittersweet Molten Chocolate Cakes with Coffee Ice Cream
Performance Photos
I haven’t made ice cream in a long while and forgot about the necessity to re-freeze after the initial mixing, so it was a little slushy. But the rich, hot chocolate cakes fresh out of the oven, topped with cold coffee ice cream was pure pleasure. Today one of the other Artists in the show, and an intern of GASP who was a student of Nancy’s, sat at the table, and we discussed art and politics over tea and dessert. We discovered good friends and a shared cultural heritage in common. The three of us all felt our time together, and that amazing chocolate dessert, was restorative. Nancy expressed the desire have more art like this to remind folks to slow down, and be present in the moment.
It’s easy to forget sometimes that all of us have a lifetime lived of experiences stored up inside of us. And it takes making time and space to learn more about each other. I was thinking about our food interviews. Some of the folks who participated were my co-workers with whom I worked 3-4 times a week, 8 hours a day, for seven months. As they spoke we found out things about them I wouldn't probably have ever known had it not been for this work. The stories they shared with Halsey and I were treasured memories. A huge gift in exchange for a little bit of our time and attention.
February 03, 2006
Potato Piroshki & Steamed Garlic Chive and Shiitake
Dumplings with Lemongrass Dipping Sauce
Performance Photos
Late last year I assisted New York Artists Mary Ellen Carroll and Donna Wingate with the Boston leg of their art project Itinerant Gastronomy. Their motto is “Living well is it’s own reward, and any relationship, whether with a person or a root vegetable, should have the time to develop properly.” On the construction site of the new ICA building, we cooked a multi-course gourmet meal for a number of prominent Boston guests, and it was a wonderful experience. It reminded me that making and eating food binds us together as we share the happenings of our lives, and pass along our culture and traditions over the dinner table. Cooking is nurturing, life affirming, and pleases all of the senses. It’s been a passion of mine since I was 10 years old, so it made perfect sense with this installation, an investigation into food, to cook.
I love neighborhood ethnic grocery stores as they are usually still family run, manageable in size, and a world of discovery. For the dumpling ingredients I shopped at Mirim Oriental Groceries at 152 Harvard Ave in Allston. It’s a small, but well stocked shop where you can find spices, sauces, dried goods, fresh produce and frozen foods. I’ve never made dumplings before, but since most of my previous works involved making multiples, I thought this was a befitting activity to begin Variations on the Theme of Food, and took comfort in the repetition and process.
I arrived to the gallery early, poured myself a cup of tea and watched the traffic speeding by through the front window. Where are we all going so fast? I wondered how difficult it would be to get people to sit down at the table, and take time to enjoy some good food and conversation.
Our first guests were all in the midst of their busy work day, and GASP was perfumed with the scent of garlic and ginger. No one had eaten a homemade piroshki before, and they were a treat. Everyone was multi-tasking, and running to meetings or appointments. So lunch was pretty brief and talk around the table included, convenience foods, and how delicious some of them are. Just open a package,throw it in the microwave, and in a few minutes you have dinner. I do that too sometimes of course, but after I’ve eaten a boxed meal, my stomach is full, but my soul remains hungry for something more.