A menu focused on the ENS (Enteric Nervous System) to reflect on the brain-belly connection present on the collective exhibition curated by Huma Kabacki.
Taking the digestive organ as a metaphor for the exhibition space -
Processing the past and digesting the future, curated by Huma Kabakci, with artists Saelia Aparicio, Yulia Iosilzon, Anna Perach, Amba Sayal-Bennett, and Rafal Zajko, explores the digestive systems on a micro and macro level in relation to our socio-political and natural environments.
In the context of the exhibition, the connection between the gut and the nervous system of the gut, also known as the enteric nervous system (ENS), has been used as a conceptual framework to create a more embodied and immersive experience in Badr El Jundi Gallery.
The Installation
The meandering table travels through the space like food in our system. Resembling an intestine we created an organically curved table that entered the space and escaped from the walls of the gallery.
The textiles were dyed with specks of pigment that mimic naturally occuring processes like mold on cheeses.
Lamp shades were made with a self-made material that filtered light.
The Menu
For the menu we built a trip through different phases of the ENS and the relationship between the food we eat and our brain.
To connect with our enteric nervous systems, we designed dishes that range from the brain like emotional eating to the microbiome in our gut.
Understanding every ingredient on the menu as a gate to our body systems,
the menu included nerve-calming ingredientes, lacto-fermented vegetables for gut health, antioxidants and fiber rich food.
“The act of eating is not merely about burning calories and producing energy, but it is in fact about replacing each individual part of your body…The flow of food…starts when it is harvested and continues as it is stored, cooked, fermented, chewed in the mouth and digested. In other words, the act of eating, seen from both the perspective of the body and the perspective of food, is inseparable from the flow of time…”
Fukuoka Shin-Ichi, Diet and Life: For Humans to Become People
The Artist's Statement
In the context of the exhibition, the connection between the gut and the nervous system of the gut, also known as the enteric nervous system (ENS), has been used as a conceptual framework to create a more embodied and immersive experience in Badr El Jundi. By incorporating different stages of digestion and the digestive system as a metaphor responding directly to the space, the works in the exhibition encourage visitors to think critically about the complex processes that shape our social and political environments.
www.badreljundigallery.com
Set production: 240x120
Kitchen staff: Floria
Photography: Katie Pattenaude
