Reporting for ArtPrize

Purple Jelly Bean installed for ArtPrize 2009 at The Castle, Cherry Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI.
Uploaded to the ArtPrize Flickr pool by Blues Belle on September 22, 2009.

ArtPrize, a new two-week art competition in Grand Rapids, MI, begins tomorrow. A total of 1,262 professional and amateur artists from 16 countries will compete for a grand prize of $250,000. The winner is determined by the public--anyone who attends can vote for best in show.

For the next week, you can find me on the ArtPrize blog, where I'll be sharing my thoughts about the installations and peripheral events, as well as posting interviews with guest speakers (all of whom are familiar names in the art world). All of this work is going to make me very hungry, but I'll be too busy to blog here about my food finds. So, I finally opened a Twitter account today. Tune in for my sweet tweets from Grand Rapids.

Art of the Pub

Yara El-Sherbini, A Pub Quiz, 2009. Live art, duration 60 minutes. Performance at Fiddlesticks Pub, NY. Courtesy of the artist and Lombard-Freid Projects.

My latest Gastro-Vision post on the Art21 blog features artist Yara El-Sherbini:

Yara El-Sherbini has used pubs as a site for her work for the past three years. In the U.K., where the artist is based, pub quizzes, or trivia nights are enormously popular. (According to Wikipedia, it has been estimated that more than 22,000 regular quizzes take place across the country every week.) In short, the game requires groups of roughly six to ten people to form teams. The evening quizmaster poses a series of questions, which are broken into rounds, and teams respond using a provided answer sheet. The results are scored, and the team with the highest count is usually awarded a prize. El-Sherbini has adopted this interactive entertainment format for her performance, A Pub Quiz, which she staged in the United States for the first time earlier this month.

Read the entire piece here.

Eye Candy: Khalif Kelly

Khalif Kelly, Ascent to the Big Top, 2009. Oil on canvas. Courtesy of Thierry Goldberg Projects.

A solo exhibition of Kelly's work is on view at Thierry Goldberg Projects through Oct. 11.

Looks Good: Super Epic Rainbow Cake

Courtesy Whisk Kid.

Ingredients
Cake:
2 sticks butter, room temp
2 1/3 c sugar
5 egg whites, room temp
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 c flour
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 1/2 c milk, warmed for 30 sec in microwave to bring to room temp
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple food coloring

Buttercream Filling and Crumb Coat:
9 egg whites
1 ¾ c sugar
4 sticks of butter, room temp
2 tsp lemon extract

Frosting:
5 egg whites
1 c sugar
2 sticks butter, room temp
1 tsp lemon extract

Go to Whisk Kid for instructions.

(Thanks for the tip, Hrag.)

Looks Good: Japanese Multi-Layer Marble Bread

Uploaded to Flickr by anhsphoto on September 7, 2009.

Ingredients
Chocolate Sheet:
30g dark chocolate (conversion tool here.)
55g milk
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
15g plain flour
1.5 tbp corn starch
15g sugar
2 Tbps condensed milk

Dough:
220g bread flour
30g cake flour
1tsp salt
1 tsp dry yeast
70g sugar
1 egg
100ml milk
45ml whipping cream
15g melted butter

Go to A Food Lover's Journey for instructions.

Eye Candy: Type A

Type A, Untitled, 2009. Plumb-bobs and thread. Uploaded to Flickr by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML on Sept. 11, 2009.

This site specific installation by artist duo Type A (Adam Ames and Andrew Bordwin) is on view at Goff + Rosenthal through Oct. 17.

A Mixed Bag: The Sci-Fi Edition

Jonas Pihl, Wormhole, 2009 (left side view). Acrylic on plastic. Courtesy of Black & White Gallery.

Chaosmosis: Black & White Gallery in Chelsea will exhibit new work by Danish artist Jonas Pihl, who draws upon sci-fi motifs and themes from popular culture. Opens Sept. 10.

Scent of Space: Astronauts aboard the International Space Station, say that spacecraft cuisine--a mix of American, Russian, Canadian, Japanese and European dishes--is good. However, it smells like more than food up there.

City Shifters: The rising popularity of urban fantasy in the U.S. has resulted in the sci-fi fantasy market's largest category shift within the last 10 years.

Moon Mythology: Vampires and werewolves are included in this laundry list of things linked to the full moon. Btw, don't miss the season finale of True Blood on Sept. 13.

Projecting Space: Rafael Vargas-Suarez's drawing installation at White Box consists of video feeds projected directly to earth from the helmet-cams of spacewalking astronauts on the International Space Station. (According to Artnet Magazine, the exhibition is still on view, but the White Box website says nothing of it.)

Martian Menu: A cooking show on the SyFy Channel? Sounds interesting, but not very appetizing.

From Apartheid to Prawns: I might be the only person on Earth that was not entertained by District 9. Though, I appreciated the moral of the story: "segregation hurts its architects as well as its victims."

Round Up: Hollywood's summer of sci-fi in review.

Whitey on the Moon: This exhibition at 106 Green in Williamsburg explores contemporary perceptions of the 1969 moon landing.

In the Nest: Artist Kyle Cassidy is photographing sci-fi writers in their creative spaces. A new favorite of mine, Samuel R. Delany, is included in the bunch.

Digital Feud: The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America have joined the Open Book Alliance, which was formed last month to rally opposition to the Google book settlement.

Back to the Future: The sci-fi film genre recently celebrated its 107th birthday--La voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) was released on Sept. 1, 1902.

Depth of Fields: Jonathan Jones links the forthcoming sci-fi film Avatar to the Arnolfini Portrait.

The Quick and the Dead: Writer Steven Stern suggests that this Walker Art Center exhibition is more indebted to sci-fi than art history.

Retrograde: Art Observed recommends the Glenn Brown retrospective currently on view at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Italy. Curated by Francesco Bonami and Laurence Sillars, the show comprises works that combine history and sci-fi.

The Future of Food: This website catalogs foodstuffs in sci-fi such as Space Beer and Sweet Wheat.

The Secret Diaries of Linda Schultz: Israeli artist and choreographer Keren Cytter is influenced by sci-fi, contemporary feminism and soap operas. Her dance company performs at The Kitchen in November.

Sci-Fi Saves Lives: iO9 lists 10 ways to rescue the climate, according to sci-fi.

Behind the Green Door: Don't miss the debut of Jayson Keeling’s video X at Henry Street Settlement. The artist will also show a selection of his glittery, fantastic and sci-fi-esque paintings. Opens Sept. 10.

Big Ups: The Hammer Museum gets props for their out-of-the-box Mexican sci-fi series this summer.

The Shuttle Has Landed: Remember the cute little astronauts in the opening credits of Reading Rainbow? They have sadly retired.

* My latest article "The Galaxy is Her Playground, or Just Beyond Reality's Edge"--a look at the work of Kira Lynn Harris through the lens of sci-fi and Afrofuturism--will appear in the November issue of Nka: Journal for Contemporary African Art.

Eye Candy: Carter

Carter, Untitled (Obverse with Abstract Paintings), 2008. Digitally altered and dated interior on folded and defaced laser prints, acrylic ink, paint, and gel medium on paper and canvas. Courtesy of Salon 94.

New works by Carter will be on view at Salon 94 beginning Sept. 9.

Basil Magazine | Premiere Issue

Basil, Dark Chocolate and Brie Sandwich. Courtesy of Iron Stef.

A new online food and wine publication--Basil Magazine--launched this week.

Produced by celebrity chef Jerome Brown (aka "Chef Rome"), veteran event producer V. De'Vonne Williams, and comedian and actor Rodney Perry, the monthly ezine targets chefs, industry professionals, and food and wine enthusiasts of color. With correspondents around the globe, Basil will represent a mix of cultures and palettes.

Visit the Health Watch section of the premiere issue to read my piece, A Letter to My Mother. An excerpt:

Dear Mom,

I’m concerned about your health. I fear that one day we will lose you, not to old age, but in a sense, to food.

It’s funny, because children learn a lot about food, eating and health from their mothers—I learned a lot from you. Though you couldn’t tell me exactly why fast and processed foods were bad for me, growing up, you were adamant about keeping “junk” out of my diet. I recall going to bed hungry one night while you were working a late shift, only to be awoken, marched to the dinner table, and forced to eat a bowl of hearty oatmeal. (I couldn’t stand the beige goop for many years thereafter.) You were angry with me: you worked hard to keep food in the house and I had the audacity to turn my nose up at something that was “good for me.” Though you never enjoyed cooking, I also remember being forced to stand in the kitchen as your little sous-chef on holidays. I learned to baste turkey, make dressing from scratch, and prepare some of my favorite desserts today, such as Lemon Lush and Sweet Potato Pie...The irony is that today I write about food and work to help people lead healthy lives, while you are a diabetic in complete denial about your condition.

I’ve been doing some research and I understand that denial is a common problem among diabetics...

Read the entire piece here. And get the recipe for my mother's Lemon Lush here (it has been modified for diabetics and other populations).

Notes: We still have a kink or two to work out with the ezine; to access the obesity study mentioned in my piece click here. The image above is in no way related to Basil Magazine (but it's an awfully good representation of the herb). A Letter to My Mother was inspired by a post on this blog in July 2009.

Becoming a Community Chef (Post 6)

Sautéed Peaches and Blueberries.

Last Saturday, I returned to Weeksville Farmers Market to give a cooking demo.

After successfully grilling peaches for the first time last month (sliced, skewered, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt), I wanted to try cooking the stone fruit again. I decided to sauté them, and since the market was selling blueberries, I tossed a handful of those in the pan too. Sautéed peaches can be served over ice cream, yogurt, pancakes, waffles or French toast. They can also be garnished with whipped cream, toasted nuts, mint leaves or lemon zest.

Sautéed Peaches

(Adapted from the Slow Food Nation cookbook, Come to the Table; and the blog The Gourmand and the Peasant)

3 tablespoons butter
2-3 large, ripe yellow flesh peaches, sliced
½ tablespoon lemon juice
1-2 tablespoon brown sugar or 2-3 tablespoons honey
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon brandy or other favorite liqueur (optional)*

In a skillet, melt butter then add the sliced peaches. Sauté the peaches over medium heat until they are heated through but not overcooked. Natural juices will form in the cooking process. Add lemon juice, sugar or honey, cinnamon, nutmeg and, if desired, brandy. (Note: Brandy or other alcohol might cause a sudden flame. Immediately reduce heat, or wait about 15 seconds for the flame to subside.) *If your peaches are under ripe (and you choose not to add alcohol), add 1-2 tablespoons of water to create more juice. Lightly toss until flavorings are well blended. Serves 3-4.

See more pics from my demo on Flickr.

About Peaches
Peaches belong to the rose family and are the third most popular fruit grown in the United States. In the Northeast, peaches are available throughout the summer. Choose peaches with a creamy or yellow skin color and varying degrees of red blush. Ripe peaches should yield to gentle palm pressure. Shriveling at the stem or excessive softening indicates an overripe peach. A medium peach contains 10% of the vitamin C and 8% of the potassium recommended daily.