Curiosity Cabinet offers an artistic take on eating habits

Chef Lee Chan-oh’s installation of six frames containing different flavored capsules / Courtesy of Seoul Design Founda

By Yun Suh-young

A dinner table which records the guests’ dining habits, macarons made of crickets, capsules filled with different ingredients which the guests have no idea how they will taste until they actually try them... These are all works of art that are part of the "Curiosity Cabinet" exhibition held at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP).

The exhibition, organized by Seoul Design Foundation in conjunction with creative agency A Team, gathered designers, artists and chefs to portray their philosophies about food and eating but in artistic forms.

Many of the works are experimental as the participating artists are exploring new ways of looking at our routine lives through the use of various media such as photography, design and installations, as well as kitchenware and food portrayed as objects of art.

Artist UZU’s macarons made of crickets

For instance, artist UZU exhibits his inventions of "future food." Macarons and coffee are made of insects such as crickets. An installation, "Ocean Flour," is made of powdered insects.

"My keyword for the exhibition is perception. I tried to show how these insects which we think are disgusting aren't much different from what we eat in our everyday lives. Some of the food we eat isn't visually appealing so I tried to compare these ingredients with insects," said UZU.

"For instance, shrimp can be seen as the crickets of the ocean. But we eat them. So what we believe is edible is a matter of perception. With the Ocean Flour installation, I am trying to stress the environmentally friendly aspect of future food through an interaction platform. You can touch these powders."

Experimental creators’ group Verythings’ exhibition on the theme “Organic”

Artist Hong Hee-eun introduced a kitchen made of chocolate. Originally a clay artist, she said she wanted to use food as a material for art.

"I used chocolate as clay. I think food is remembered by special moments. The kitchen is where your memories of food are formed with your family. So I tried to revive the sweet and special culinary memories through the chocolate installation," said Hong.

Verythings, an experimental creators' group, introduced part of the exhibit from "Curious Kitchen" which was held at the Daelim Museum last year. Using kitchen tools, it tried to portray an aspect of culinary culture.

"The theme we focused on for this exhibition was organic. This is an overused term nowadays so at the exhibit, we questioned the use of this word. Do people really know the meaning of the word when they use it? Some don't know the difference between organic and environmentally-friendly and use them interchangeably," said Yoon Sook-kyung, an artist with Verythings.

Artist Hong Hee-eun’s kitchen created with chocolate

"So we tried to point out the paradox of such culture through our work which explores the definition of organic through objects."

Another interesting exhibit was popular chef Lee Chan-oh's installation of capsules. Six different transparent box frames containing different flavors of capsules were hung in front of a dinner table. The frames were defined by words such as "Nightshift," "Friday night fever," "Wife's birthday," and "Credit card payment day." With each theme, different flavored capsules were installed for visitors to taste, but the taste was not identified, so the visitors wouldn't know what they put in their mouths.

"I tried to show that taste is subjective. Taste is limited to sourness, sweetness, saltiness, bitterness and spiciness but the taste we feel can differ based on environmental factors and various situations," said Lee.

"For instance, credit card payment day can be expressed as bitter for some (if you have spent a lot), but can be sweet for others (who've spent less). Like this, I tried to show that flavors can be really subjective."

The exhibition contains nine different installations and is free of charge at the Gallery Moon inside the DDP through Nov. 29.

Visitors to the exhibition can also sign up for a "Curiosity Gourmet Tour" in which eight restaurants are participating. Those who make reservations for these restaurants will receive a special culinary "tour" from chefs who'll introduce their artistic world through the creative dishes the restaurants are creating.