A History of Foie Gras and Its Ethics II

The long meandering history of fattening the livers of waterfowl through force feeding in order to produce, on the regular, the richly flavored and mildly textured organ that sustains the birds in cold weather and long flights is an excellent means for exploring the multifaceted complexities and partial knowledge sets that make up the social, political and ethical.

The 2nd installment of A History of Foie Gras and Its Ethics was held on June 30th, 2012 at Royal/T in Culver City, CA.

Click here to see Hadley Tomicki's coverage in Grub Street

The event was presented as part of The Art of Cooking curated by Hanne Mugaas and was supported by donations from Hudson Valley Foie Gras and Möet and Chandon

FACILITATION PAINTINGS

Superfundraiser! a benefit for Cabinet Magazine

May 31st saw the presentation of Superfundraiser!
Working with Cabinet Magazine I devised a menu and discussion that took Cabinet's office's proximity to the Gowanus Canal as a starting point.


Expanding out from the Gowanus and its potential saviour, the oyster! To Chernobyl and the "exclusion zone's" booming, though radioactive, wildlife population. To downtown Detroit's wild rabbit hunting ground. Superfundraiser! looked at flora and fauna that could, potentially, undo damage done, cleanse soils to aid urban homesteading and a developing agricultural/food system revolution and the potential for life to go on in environments too toxic to support their human creator.


The night began with a cocktail devised by Eben Klemm, a toast skyped-in by Peter Galison and concluded with a presentation by Steven Featherstone.

Foie Ethics and others

Poor quality images of New Paintings to follow...

The Prep Kitchen/Holding Back the Appetite

The Prep Kitchen

A durational performance of sorts, a presentation of production, a means for tracking the development of a discreet food object and the concentration of flavors. Also: A means for critiquing "Food Performance".

In retrospect the above statement is true only in looking at the full 25 hours spent at Race Brook Lodge for A la Fortune du pot, organized by Kalika Farmer, as a single performative event.

From unpacking the car, competing for facilities, heating, roasting, cleaning, roasting, straining, reheating, sharing the mid-cook, straining, straining, straining, presenting the leavings to an absent audience, reducing, straining x 5, cooling, packing up and driving away.

Holding Back The Appetite; A Suite of Discreet Food Objects

For the occasion of the release of D. Graham Burnett's The Sounding of the Whale Burnett requested a suite of whale related foods...

On the Whalers Deck: Ossabaw Pork Belly (cured, confited and fried), anise, white cardamom and Ricard caramel, whole crustacean jelly (lobster, blue crab, head-on shrimp with duck/pork gelatin)

The Whale Market: Carpaccio of Elk tenderloin, 3 jojoba and olive oil scents: The Sea, Scandinavian Spice, Other Whale Hunting Cultures

Fudgie the Whale Split Down His Seam: Butterflied whole Surryano Ham

(images to come)

UPDATE

Work has progressed on what is now called A Market. Two events have been held at the Watermill Center in the Hamptons bringing farmers and community members together to "think tank" the project to assure its usefulness to those whose participation it seeks. The project now has three parts with a 4th on the horizon.
The Market: a farmer organized market place dispersed through the Watermill Center's site and schedule
The Smokehouse(s): a group of 5 smokehouses in Sullivan County, NY free for use
The Bunker: A concrete structure set below the freeze-line at the Poor farm in rural Wisconsin where Kimchi and Miso paste will ferment, pickles and charcutterie will age and be stored to be made useful by groups involved in the project.

Through the developments around A Market a re-invigorated painting practice has cropped up. A Market will both provide source material for structuring paintings and allow for painting to escape the need to "re-perform modernism" or be defined in any critical capacity.

Back in December I worked with Thor Audio and Spiral Groove in presenting A Stereo as part of Arcadian Night, a night of performance and video at the Raceback Lodge in the Berkshires. The show was curated by Andrea Hill and Kalika Farmer. I built custom furniture for a collection of amazing stereo equipment and spent the night listening to my record collection, guests of the show were free to listen along. The show provided an opportunity for Thor Audio to meet with and educate an audience totally foreign to what they do and how extreme an experience a stereo can provide.

This past weekend, July 16th, 2011, I sat-in as guest chef at Mildred's Lane with the dinner A History of Foie Gras and it's Ethics. The dinner featured an all duck menu and a lively discussion of the ethics, issues and history of foie gras.