cur(eat)
Proposal for my CUR(EAT) project, in ART782 Art Topics: Curating.
CURATE + CREATE = CUR(EAT)
Concept of CUR(EAT): Exhibitions Are Buffets of Ideas and All Art is Theoretically Edible
Title of Exhibition: CUR(EAT)
Proposal for CUR(EAT): Erroneous Eats
Marketing TEASER: “Augment your life; educate your brain; feed your stomach.”
Curatorial Narrative:
Healthy eating is a current hot topic trend across America. Diet and nutrition are important points of knowledge being pushed through to the public through a variety of channels, including television commercials and food-related shows, internet blogs and twitter feeds, billboards on the street, magazines in the grocery line, advertisements on the radio, and more. In the media, we see fad diets for consumers juxtapose malnutrition in developing countries. Through our smart phones and tablet mini-computers, we download apps to augment our lives, our eating choices, how we cook food, and how we find food. On a national scale, our government is creating legislation to alter the way we eat by designing portions on our plates; on a local level, city and county K-12 schools are having their lunches redesigned to combat the national obesity crisis, as well as the problem of children going hungry in a recession economy.
Beyond all these factors ‘helping’ us to choose what we eat, there is also the issue of what we have access to eat. The Erroneous Eats exhibition aims to take stock of what is accessible and affordable on the microcosm of Towson University’s campus. TU’s Health and Wellness has attempted to educate students on proper diet and nutrition. They have set up programs like the Healthy Campus Taskforce and started initiatives to end waste and overeating by getting rid of trays in the dining halls. However, there is a disconnect between the wealth of educational materials provided to students and the actual food that is available.
Erroneous Eats will take place on Thursday, September 15, 2011, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. as part of the CUR(EAT) exhibition held in the ART782 Topics classroom. Erroneous Eats will be executed through the use of smart phone technology, allowing participants to scan QR codes placed on food packaging found in vending machines on campus.
The goal is to offer a didactic that will stimulate dialogue regarding the issues of healthy eating, diet, and nutrition. Once the cafes and the dining halls have closed, there is a lack of availability of proper ‘brain food’ on the TU campus after hours, and students and professors have no other options to power their brains and their bodies to succeed in the learning environment.
This exhibition also hopes to contextualize itself around the current art and museological historical context, as institutions are working towards embracing advents in technology to create augmented and interactive exhibits for visitors. Where there were once human and audio guides leading visitors through exhibits, there are now smart phone apps that can even provide additional education beyond the physical location of the institution. However, even here we can have issues of access, as how does one further their knowledge when they do not own a smart phone. Will museums provide devices for learning while visitors are in the environment, or will part of the population suffer from education ‘starvation’?
Checklist, Image and Photo Credit:
Title: Center for the Arts Café is Closed
Date: 2011
Medium: digital image
Dimensions: 1000 x 667 pixels
Title: Vending Machine Alley
Date: 2011
Medium: digital image
Dimensions: 1000 x 667 pixels
Title: Snackables
Date: 2011
Medium: digital image
Dimensions: 667 x 1000 pixels
Title: Press Selection for Price
Date: 2011
Medium: digital image
Dimensions: 1000 x 667 pixels
Title: Fruit and Grain
Date: 2011
Medium: digital image
Dimensions: 1000 x 667 pixels
Title: Ready
Date: 2011
Medium: digital image
Dimensions: 667 x 1000 pixels
Title: Insert Money for 507, Price 1.00 USD
Date: 2011
Medium: digital image
Dimensions: 1000 x 667 pixels
Title: Selection OK
Date: 2011
Medium: digital image
Dimensions: 1000 x 667 pixels
Title: Dinner is Served
Date: 2011
Medium: digital image
Dimensions: 1000 x 667 pixels
Title: Thank You
Date: 2011
Medium: digital image
Dimensions: 1000 x 667 pixels
