Eye Candy: Food + Sex

Food + Sex cover, issue zero | Food + Sex Tour Flier, 2009.

Food + Sex is a new collage art and food magazine that brings together artists, writers, farmers and foodmakers "exploring how desire shapes the food environment." According to the website:

By weaving erotic, shocking and thoughtful layers of beauty, wildness and the human spirit, we peer into the fire of hope and fear to find the hidden, seek the cosmic and reflect on the elemental connectedness in life that opens us to new ways of being. Included in its pages are a visual patchwork of uncommon art, essays and excerpts by thinkers, makers and doers from the food underground and beyond.

Founder Mark Andrew Gravel, will bring the zine to New York during his fall tour. You can catch up with him on Sept. 12 at Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn, and Sept. 13 at the New Amsterdam Market at South Street Seaport.

Browse and/or purchase the premiere issue of Food + Sex here.

[via 7x7 and Eat Me Daily]

Looks Good: Chocolate Dobos Torte

Uploaded to foodgawker on Aug. 27, 2009. Courtesy of Pastry Pal.

Ingredients
Sponge cake batter:
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups (150 g) powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup + 2 tablespoons (130 g) cake flour, sifted
pinch of salt

Chocolate Buttercream:
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, Dutch-processed
1 1/4 cups (125 g) powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Caramel:
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Hazelnuts for garnish

Go to Pastry Pal for instructions.

A Mixed Bag (8.27.09)

Hugh Pocock, Day 63, 2009. Paper and ink. Courtesy of the artist.

My Food My Poop: To explore energy production and consumption, artist Hugh Pocock weighed all of his food, drink, urine and poop for 63 days. This multimedia project was recently installed at The Contemporary Art Center, Baltimore.

Bioart: A blogger's musings.

Oil Change: In response to consumer complaints, Cadbury has stopped using palm oil in its milk chocolate products.

Double Disgusting: KFC has taken the no-carb diet too far.

Street Eats: Browse over 800 images in the 7x7 Street Food Photo Contest Flickr pool.

B-Day in the Bay: To honor 60 years of Candy Land, a 575-foot version of the board game was created along Lombard Street in San Francisco.

Naturally Sweet: Ponderosa Pines smell like baking cookies.

Culinary Delights: Photographs by David Halliday: An exhibition of the acclaimed photographer's still life food compositions; Halliday began his career as a chef. Opens Sept. 5 at the San Antonio Museum of Art.

New Peeps: Radhika Subramaniam has been named director and chief curator of the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons.

Where the Wild Ones Werq: My boss shows off the new Astor Place digs (and his abs) for New York Magazine.

T.M.I.: Social media could make you a target for burglars.

Cast Your Vote: Would you rather be healthy, trendy, wealthy, powerful, beautiful, or sexy? (Apparently, "healthy" means "you're a fat hog.")

Chocolate Hearts: A new study finds that men and women who had one heart attack, but ate chocolate were three times less likely to die from a second heart attack.

Blueberry Buckle: A dense cake filled with fresh blueberries.

Quite a Twist: Are the lemon and lime characters on the Maoam candy wrapper gettin' freaky?

Cover to Cover: More and more book covers feature provocative images of beat up books.

Pop Art: Coagula Art Journal is giving away 24 limited edition t-shirts featuring Michael Jackson's 2003 mug shot. Download the Sept. issue to read the contest rules.

Best Title Ever: Who You Callin' Conceptual?

Slant/Light/Volume: Robert Irwin's 1971 piece is on view at the Walker Art Center for the first time in 20 years. Continues through Nov. 21.

Beam Your Breakfast: A Teleport Fridge is one of many futuristic food appliances entered into the 2009 Electrolux Design Lab Competition.

Skylar Fein: Youth Manifesto: Fein tackles the symbiotic relationship between rock music and consumerism in his first solo museum exhibition. Opens Sept. 12 at the New Orleans Museum of Art with a concert featuring local bands and DJs.

Cupcake Competition: At least six cupcake bakeries have opened around Washington, D.C. in the past 20 months, and there are more to come.

Cookin' Soon: Check out Eat Me Daily's fall cookbook preview.

The Girl Effect: This Lombard-Freid exhibition links social change to the power of young girls. Opens Sept. 10 with a performance by Yara El-Sherbini at the Manhattan pub/eatery Fiddlesticks.

Nuns No More: The Convent of St. Cecilia in Greenpoint, Brooklyn housed nuns until last year, but this week it becomes an art space.

Drunken Chocolate Pecan Cake.

Looks Good: Raspberry Muffins with Lime Zest Glaze

Courtesy of Jane's Sweets & Baking Journal.

Ingredients
Muffins:
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 to 1 cup fresh ripe raspberries (cut berries in half)

Glaze:
1 cup sifted confectioners sugar
3 T. of water (more or less)
1 tsp. of fresh lime juice
1 tsp. of lime zest (more or less, per your taste)

Go to Jane's Sweets & Baking Journal for instructions.

Aesthetics of Urban Farming Continued

Atom Cianfarani, For the Birds, 2008. Courtesy of the artist.

The second half of my piece, Aesthetics of Urban Farming, has been published on the Art21 blog. An excerpt:

Reclamation is central to the work of Brooklyn-based green artist/designer Atom Cianfarani who says, to paraphrase, that sustainable, recyclable designs can be beautiful, but few artists push it that far. (If you’re familiar with Brooklyn, Cianfarani helped to design the popular eco-eatery Habana Outpost in Fort Greene.) Later this week, DOT Urban Art Commission will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Cianfarani’s new public sculpture, "Welcomed Guests," located across the street from Brooklyn’s Added Value/Red Hook Farm. (The 2.75 acre urban farm has provided space to stage and produce the sculpture). Sponsored by DOT and the Lower East Side Ecology Center, the piece consists of ten poles set in place by retired wine barrels from local vineyard & winery, Castello di Borghese. The poles will support functional bird homes made of salvaged materials; the roofs will be covered with patches of wild strawberries.

Read more here.

Call 888-320-2427

Tracee Worley, The Dirty Laundry Line Project, 2009. Photo: Hrag Vartanian.

Click here to find out more about The Dirty Laundry Line by artist Tracee Worley, or just pick up the phone and call.

As a resident writer in The Laundromat Project's Create Change program, over the next several weeks I will pen a new piece about Worley's project.

Create Change is a six-month public art residency program that was developed to connect communities and artists of color in meaningful ways. Each Create Change artist (there are currently three) is charged with placing art-making in the context of everyday living by producing a site-specific, socially relevant installation at their local laundromats; engaging fellow laundry patrons as participants in their creative process; and increasing their own visibility as an artist and a neighbor in the area they call home.

Learn more about The Laundromat Project and this season's Create Change artists here.

What's Brewing at UCLA

Artisan(s) unknown, Italian teapot, circa 1840. Courtesy of the UCLA Fowler Museum.

According to the H-AfrArts Discussion Network (as well as Culture Monster), the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has decided to shutter its Arts Library--permanently. Effective as early as January 2010, the decision stems from a shortage of nearly $2 million, ostensibly a result of the continuing recession. In addition to having one of the nation's strongest collections of materials pertaining to Africa and its diasporas, the library holds more than 270,000 books in the fields of architecture, architectural history, art, art history, design, film, television, photography, theater, and allied disciplines. Faculty and others rallying against the library's closure have created a Facebook page, and an online petition that has acquired 2,139 signatures in just four days (the benchmark is 2,500).

Masayuki Shinsai, Japanese color woodblock print depicting two women at a tea ceremony; one woman teaching the other the serving of tea, no date (1760-1848). Ink on paper. Scripps College Collection. Courtesy of Scripps College.

While things are heating up with the library, a new exhibition--Steeped in History: The Art of Tea--has opened at the UCLA Fowler Museum. The exhibition explores the world's second most consumed beverage through Chinese ceramics and paintings, 18th- and 19th-century Japanese ceramics and prints (like the one pictured here), English and Colonial American paintings, historic photographs and documents, tea-serving paraphernalia and furniture. Steeped in History is on view through November 29.


Find a good place for tea in Los Angeles. Follow Alton Brown's recipe for Sweet Tea. Check out this mossy slice of Green Tea Cake on Flickr.

Gastro-Vision is Live

Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, Truck Farm, 2009. Courtesy of treehugger.com

Things are really cookin' over at the Art21 blog. Today, I launched Gastro-Vision, a monthly column dedicated to all things food in contemporary art and visual culture. Part 1 of my first post features Truck Farm by Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis. An excerpt:

Documentary filmmakers Ian Cheney and Curtis Ellis, known for their 2007 award-winning film King Corn, have converted the bed of a 1986 Dodge Ram pick-up truck into a mobile garden. Both a summer food project and film, Truck Farm, combines green-roof technology, organic compost, and heirloom seeds, bringing fresh food wherever these guys may drive....The social value of Truck Farm is evident: the model brings us a teeny step closer to a more just food system, in which good, whole foods can be grown and easily distributed where they are needed. It also broadens the possibilities for ownership of “farmable land.” But having described the piece as an art installation, I wanted to hear more about the farm’s aesthetic growth, so to speak.

Read more.

In Defense of the Ice Cream Man

Ice Cream Man, 1995. Closed-captioned, color, DVD.

On Tuesday, the New York Times Dining Section ran a disturbing piece about ice cream vendors. To some parents, these cart pushing, truck driving sweet gods and goddesses have become bothersome bell-ringing predators.

Part of the trouble is vendors' proximity to playgrounds, and the amount of time they devote to a single area (i.e. they linger). A Brooklyn parent expressed disdain for the "icy man," the popsicle peddlers that roam the outskirts of Prospect Park, and their cooler counterpart, Mister Softee. A mother living in Portland, Oregon was equally bothered, saying:

'When we were kids you would either get the ice cream or not and then he would just go away. But they just sit there now, and it’s like an hour of ‘Can I have ice cream? Can I have ice cream?’ It’s really the vulture-like behavior that bothers me.'

I don't know ladies, it sounds like a good business strategy to me--stay where the customers are and they will return. But on the other hand, a small part of me is sympathetic to the mother that must endure her child's pleas and possible tantrum; when something so good is so close and yet out of reach, a kid can really lose it. But children will find themselves in this situation for the rest of their lives. Can't this be an opportunity to teach them about alternatives, moderation and negotiation? You certainly can't place all the blame on the ice cream vendor just for being there. But you can try:

In May, New York City principals received letters from the advocacy group Asthma Free School Zone, urging them to keep trucks from their buildings. 'Sometimes you’ll see a child in a stroller parked right next to the exhaust pipe of the truck'...

Umm, whose fault is that? Furthermore, who are these parents that want to partially restrict or all out ban the sweet saviors of summer? Writer Helene Stapinski noted the observation of a Mister Softee VP:

Those who dislike the ice cream man tend to be 'New Age parents whose kids can’t seem to do anything without them.'

Yep, it's always those yogis pushing their double-wide super strollers to the nearest food coop for a box of Tofutti Cuties that suck the fun out of everything. But then there's this:

[T]he complaints are not just coming from effete organic-food zealots with too much time on their hands. The 18th Ward in Chicago, which banned ice cream vendors, is made up of working-class African-American families...

In Chicago last fall, the City Council banned ice cream trucks from the 18th Ward after residents complained about unclean vendors, noise and, more troubling, possible drug sales inside some of the trucks...

Okay, now we're talking about "Big Worm" from the movie Friday.

While he was comic relief in the film, I can't imagine sending my kid to an ice cream man that might slip him a dime bag instead of a Rocket Pop. In contrast, Stapinski highlights Cool Cycles, a two-wheel ice cream service (à la CHIPs) in Tacoma, Washington. Owner Joel Semanko is quoted:

'There used to be this image [of the ice cream man] that was wholesome and cool'...But these days, in Tacoma, there is a guy in an old mail van with no shirt on, smoking a cigarette...'I heard one kid complain that the guy actually burped on him.'

Eww. Speaking of digestive issues, some parents are (understandably) concerned about additives and health. In a few closing quotes from Hilary Guishard, a Brooklynite and former owner and driver of Mister Softee trucks, he suggests that customers ask Mister Softee to carry fat-free options. (That said, products with less additives might be possible too.) While Guishard empathized with moms, he also had this to say:

Moms have a choice. We should be mature enough to tell our kids, ‘No.’

Amen. If you can't handle telling your kid no, then get off the playground. As for the icy or ice cream man's unrelenting jingle, sure, it's a little annoying, but deal with it. Some of us look forward to that sound. I shudder to think that ice cream could be banished from kid zones like merry-go-rounds, seesaws and teeter totters. As my sister, a mother of three, says, "Some things just need to be left alone."

Read the entire New York Times article, When Parents Scream Against Ice Cream, here.

Interview: Saya Woolfalk

Saya Woolfalk, Spider's Diet, 2004. Gouache on paper. Courtesy of Zg Gallery.

On the occasion of the fifth season of Art:21—Art in the Twenty-First Century, premiering on PBS this fall, the Art21 blog has dedicated four Flash Points topics to the themes of the forthcoming episodes: Compassion, Fantasy, Transformation, and Systems. Read my interview with artist Saya Woolfalk for the current topic (fantasy) here.

Voice Your Complaints

Petra Gerschner, "History is a Work in Process," 2009.
Courtesy of the artist and Frankfurter Kunstverein. © Petra Gerschner

Here's an idea for voicing one's feelings about American healthcare and reform: join or create a complaint choir.

Artists Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen started the first complaint choir in Birmingham, U.K. in 2005. The idea was to channel time and energy that people spend complaining into something powerful, artistic and perhaps constructive. Today, there are more than 20 complaint choirs worldwide, and a new one is being formed in Frankfurt, Germany this month.

The Frankfurter Kunstverein has put out a call for singers in conjunction with their group exhibition Gemeinsam in die Zukunft. The exhibition title, meaning “together into the future,” refers to a saying from the time of the German reunification and thus reflects, among other things, the starting point for the show: the 60th anniversary of the Federal Republic of Germany, the 20th year of German reunification, and the Bundestag elections, all happening this year. On a larger scale, Gemeinsam in die Zukunft addresses the relationship between society and community, governed and autonomous, the collective and the individual.

The call for choir participants states:

Who doesn't complain about politics, [or] troubles at school or at work? Why not collect the complaints and sing it to the world, friends or family? Everyone who likes to sing his anger off his chest can register at Frankfurter Kunstverein now. Experiences in choir singing or musical talent are not requested...[Those] who want to sing along or hand in a complaint, please contact Lilian Engelmann, curator Frankfurter Kunstverein, engelmann@fkv.de.

If you can't make it to Frankfurt, visit the website Complaint Choirs Worldwide to find a choir near you. (Note: New York joined the movement last year, but is not yet listed on some areas of the site.)

Looks Good: Coffee Toffee Mocha Crunch Ice Cream

Courtesy ButterYum.

Ingredients
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup half and half
1 cup whole milk
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons instant espresso powder
1/2 cup toffee bits
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Go to ButterYum for instructions.

BANANAS!*

BANANAS!*, a documentary film directed by Fredrik Gertten, follows lawyer Juan "Accidentes" Dominguez through his biggest case. On behalf of twelve Nicaraguan banana workers, Dominguez takes on Dole Food Company for their use of the pesticide Nemagon, known by the company to cause sterility.

According to ScreenCrave.com, the workers won a $1.58 million settlement and "set a precedent for foreign workers to sue American companies." Though, the judge later overturned the settlement.

Following the screening of BANANAS!* at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June, Dole filed a civil lawsuit against Gertten, WG Film, and producer Margarete Jangård, claiming that the film defames Dole. Still, the piece screened at the Båstad Film Festival in Sweden earlier this month; there has since been an outpouring of support for the film and its director.

You can find out the latest about the controversy on the BANANAS!* news blog. Or read the timeline of events (which I found to be quite helpful in untangling this web of legal actions). Hopefully, BANANAS!* will show in the U.S. again...

Go to Ideas for Frugal Living for tips on Bananaless Bread.

A Mixed Bag (8.13.09)

Gary Lang, Future Circles, 1998. Acrylic on canvas, 113" diameter. Collection of Michael Krichman and Carmen Cuenca. © Gary Lang. Courtesy of Quint Contemporary Art.

Quint: Three Decades of Contemporary Art: The Escondido Museum in California attempts to further understanding and appreciation of the current contemporary art scene with a survey of works shown at Quint Gallery over the past 30 years. On view through Dec. 31.

Another Quint: The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck of New York resident Doug Quint offers Cayenne and Wasabi Pea Dust flavors (and prideful paraphernalia to boot).

Cones of Her Own: BUST Magazine is asking readers to come up with ice-cream flavors inspired by feminist literary classics.

Walk It Off: Melt away ice cream calories on a NYC Weekend Walk. Events continue through September.

Candy Confusion: A new candy tax in Illinois will help pay for a $31 billion public works program. But Twix, Kit Kat and Twizzlers are not considered candy under state law. Huh?

Chocolate China: Trouble faces Africans in Guangzhou, the hub of a region called "the workshop of the world."

Bonanzaless Africa: The Museum Security Network says that Africa and Africans are "locked out" of the booming art business.

Domino's Does Cake: The United States pizza chain has started selling its first "real" dessert item.

Sweet Clicks: Take a bite out of this wireless mouse.

Orthorexia: LOL (and eyeing these Cinnamon Raisin Rolls).

The Power of Taste: Frank Bruni leaves his post and culture editor Sam Sifton is named food critic for the New York Times.

Is "Organic Dessert" an Oxymoron?

Fit to be Fed: How food critics and chefs keep the weight off.

Pretty Penny Prose: A Bronx-based poet sues Oprah for one trillion dollars.

Spell Check: Season 1o of the Williamsburg Spelling Bee is underway at Pete's Candy. Practice before you step up to the mic.

Art Dome: Can art lead the Cowboys to another Super Bowl?

Movin' on Up: Nicholas Baume, chief curator of the ICA Boston since 2003, has been named director of New York City’s Public Art Fund.

Queen of Crochet: Artist Xenobia Bailey has posted pics of her first "Obatalo Babalawo Orisha Sacred Decorative Arts of Adornment Crown." Purchase one for $650 on Etsy.

The Deep End: Go for a swim at the Los Angeles art space, The Company. Their current exhibition takes a broad look at pools in works by Jen Denike, Carlton Dewoody, and others. Closes Oct. 4.

Presidio a No-Go: The collection of Gap founder Donald Fisher might, like many artists, leave San Francisco.

Just Say Yes: The pastry chef at Locanda Verde--Robert DeNiro's new restaurant--makes it "a crime to skip dessert."

Frida Kahlo's Pan de Muerto: Download this "bread of the dead" recipe, courtesy of author Barbara Kingsolver. Find more recipes on her website Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.com.

Lactating and Shiny: Angelina Jolie is silver, naked and double breastfeeding in a new sculpture by Daniel Edwards.

Resurrecting Kubrick: The research sources for Stanley Kubrick's last and unfinished film, The Aryan Papers, are on display in an Edinburgh Festival exhibition. Closes September 6.

Re:Construction 2009: BravinLee Programs and the Downtown Alliance present works by Rachel Hayes and Nina Bovasso at two different construction sites in Lower Manhattan.

Burgers and Sandwiches: From Barnett Newman's bacon and mustard on white bread to a beefy Motherwell homage.

Peanut Butter Crockpot Bread.

The Cost of Confections: U.S. confectionery companies are transferring operations to countries like Mexico for lower labor and operational costs.

Racism: An American Family Value

Racism: An American Family Value, now on view at the Center for Book Arts, investigates how visual artists use the printed word to address one of the country's oldest and most challenging social problems. The exhibition was co-organized by independent curator Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., and Alexander Campos, Executive Director of The Center for Book Arts. Above, Kennedy gives WNYC a short walk-through of this ambitious display.

On Wednesday, August 19 at 6:30pm, I will moderate a panel discussion at the Center with artists Tomie Arai, Michael Paul Britto, Jayson Keeling, Karina Skvirsky and Jason Lujan. Please join us for what is sure to be an engaging conversation.

Looks Good: Chunky Pecan Pie Bars

Courtesy Brown Eyed Baker.

Ingredients

Crust:
1½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened

¼ cup packed brown sugar

Filling:
3 large eggs
¾ cup corn syrup
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1¾ cups coarsely chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (or chocolate chunks in a bag)
1½ cups chopped pecans

Before you jump to Brown Eyed Baker for instructions, note:

I try to use whole and/or natural ingredients when possible to either lessen the calorie count, adapt a recipe for special diets, or just to try something new (without sacrificing flavor). When I saw corn syrup in this recipe, I wanted to find an alternative. I browsed around and found that agave can be used as a substitute. But the Brown Eyed Baker (whose posts are amazing) clearly bakes more than I do, so I asked for her thoughts and she graciously replied:

I did a little research on substituting agave for corn syrup and found that you can indeed substitute, but that it should be used in a 1:2 ratio to the corn syrup. Since the recipe calls for 3/4 cup of corn syrup, I would recommend using about 1/3 cup agave in its place. The notes I read said that the other liquids in the recipe should be increased by about 1/3 cup. However, there are no other liquids in this recipe. The corn syrup helps to bind the 'filling' in this recipe, so using less agave may cause it to be a bit drier, but I can't be totally sure. Since I have never made the substitution I can't guarantee how it will turn out, but would love for you to let me know if you try it!

If you have a chance to try this recipe with agave before I do, let us know how the bars hold together and, more importantly, how they taste.

Eye Candy: Young Curators, New Ideas II

Michele Abeles, 2nd of January, 2008. Archival pigment print. Courtesy of P.P.O.W Gallery.

Young Curators, New Ideas II examines new voices in contemporary art from the perspective of seven New York based curators in seven unique exhibitions.

The individually curated shows include Deconstructing the Female Gaze, a group of artists whose methods question and challenge stereotypical ways that women interpret the world through photographic practice (curated by Amy Elkins and Cara Phillips of Women in Photography); The Individual & The Family, four artists (Jessica Ann Peavy among them) who use irreverent and humorous actions to raise issues of homogeneity and authorship (curated by Jose Ruiz); and Comet Fever, an exploration of the paranormal and phenomena outside of human control (curated by Nico Wheadon). Read the complete list of presentations on ArtCat.

Young Curators, New Ideas II opens August 6 at P.P.O.W Gallery.

Looks Good: Fig, Caramelized Onion & Pine Nut Pizza

Photo: N. Caruth.

Ingredients
Topping:
1 1/2 cups fresh figs, sliced
3 ounces Gruyère (also called Gruyère de Comté), coarsely grated
1 large onion, sliced and caramelized
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

Dough:
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal or polenta
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil

Go to Recipe Pizza for dough instructions. Layer the cheese, onions, pine nuts and figs on top of the pizza dough (in that order). Bake until crust is golden brown.