Describe where you got the idea for Do You Read Me?I’ve been dealing with food politics for a long while now and this just seemed like the next logical step. I’ve also been reading Marion Nestle’s book Food Politics and running into a lot of jargon and other amazing information. That’s where some of the text for the food pyramid came from. For example, I had no idea that some people consider ketchup to be a vegetable serving. That just doesn’t seem right.
What message are you trying to convey about food consumption and politics?I’m hoping to get some wheels turning. Thinking is good. And information is an important part of thinking. The food industry and all the politics and greed surrounding that is messy. I’m just trying to sort some of it out for myself, and I’m also hoping to inform some others that are potentially interested in this awareness too.
Describe your favourite piece.Favourite? In some ways the works are like kids: I love them all the same but different. If I had to be stranded some place with one of them, I would take the tinned food—and a can opener—for obvious reasons, but the lists are great because people get to interact with the handmade perforations and take something home with them. Ideas. The light boxes are also good for the participation factor, and they are like secret messages for one viewer at a time. Nutrition Lesson, the four-minute video piece, is just funny.
Why food?Everyone eats, hopefully. These issues affect everyone, and I love food.
What’s your favourite food?Local and sustainable is my favourite. Japanese food is always good. A $3 burrito is amazing, but there are not so many of those in these parts. One of my dreams is to open a burrito joint on Cornwallis and Creighton where the Big Italy Pizza used to be. I think that I would even keep the sign and alter it to read “The Big It.” Any silent partners out there?
Do You Read Me? Is on at the Anna Leonowens Gallery, 1891 Granville, until january 21.
