Semi-Living food - “Disembodied Cuisine”

In the “Disembodied Cuisine” project will attempt to grow frog (or amphibian) muscle over biopolymer for potential food consumption. A biopsy will be taken from an animal which will continue to live and will be displayed in the gallery along side the growing “steak”. This installation will culminate in a “feast”. We will also culture plant (herbs/salad)tissue that will be used to spice up the “steak”.

This piece will deal with one of the most common zones of interaction between humans and other living systems and will probe the apparent uneasiness people feel when someone ‘messes’ with their food. Society’s hypocrisies in regard to the treatment of fellow living beings will be explored through the concept of the Semi-Living. Here the relationships with the Semi-Living are that of consumption and exploitation, however, it is important to note that it is about “victimless” meat consumption or ‘steaks for non-killers’. This work reflect on the world in times were GM and other manufactured food has entered the food chain unbeknown to the unsuspecting consumer and an atmosphere of conflict and intolerance to the Other prevails. We are proposing a different and radical alternative to the inadequacies and cruelty controlling the food manufacturing industry. We, consciously, want to make the audience feel uneasy when exposed to the source of their food who looks back at them.

We will have the living/semi-living “Steak” growing in bioreactor. We will also display the animal from where the cells were taken. We will attempt to create the optimal conditions (within the limitation of a gallery setting) for the animals to live a ‘normal’ life.

We will also set a dinner table (with plates, cutlery, wine etc.) for the future feast.
The Tissue Culture laboratory set up in the gallery will look like a hybrid between a scientific lab and a kitchen. Imaging System will be set up for the audience to view the plants cells and steak growing and changing over time. The “steak” will grow in the gallery during the show. The “steak” will change with time and will be ready for consumption by the end of the show. Everyday we will need (together with the audience) to feed the cells and the ‘steak’ as well as the animals – ‘Feeding the Food’.

Art as Food. We put our audience in the perplexing situation of questioning where our food comes from and the amazing potential of meat not being murder is proposed, as the living animal stays alive while its progeny – the artificial steak is consumed.