Cooking Project

2004
performance at Svenska Yrkeshögskolan y Nykarleby – Fine Arts Department of the Swedish Polytechnic in Nykarleby, Finland

Eating and cooking are social activities and bring people together. Even though I am a very friendly person I had difficulties in finding friends in Finland, where I had artists residency. I had an impression that Finns were strong individualists; lonely people who have  problems with cooperating and forming friendships.

To break ice with student I invited them for cooking workshops of Polish dishes. One week “course” of cooking together was finished with lunch, where I served traditional soup Barszcz (borscht) for the whole school. Barszcz is a beetroot soup, very popular in Eastern Europe. Beetroots give the soup distinctive, beautiful red colour. I attached spoons to the ceiling by ropes, with two spoons on the ends, so students had to cooperate with each other to be able to eat.

The „linked spoons“ dinner was also served in South Korea at Seoul Art Center Festival on Yoeuido island in October 2010, in collaboration with Korean artist Meehwa Lee