Tempting Art Installation

“Don't play with your food!”- the admonishment we've often heard in our childhood is cheerfully brushed aside in this project; what happens when we take cooking out of the kitchen and into the world of design? The kitchen becomes a playground for celebrating ‘foodies'.

For VALCUCINE, Maurizio Galante & Tal Lancman invited 22 guests to respond to one challenge: to each concoct a dish. Borrowing omnivorously from multiple media, architects, advertising creatives, photographers, painters, industrial designers, as well as artists specialising in edible art, the project rounds up a full set of flavours, comprising a three course imaginary culinary menu, to be devoured firstly with the eyes, it provides food for thought.

A wide array of comfort foods perfectly match and illustrate the world we live in. Everything and everyone is honed to be highly seductive in order to fit in and hold on, to stay relevant, to win. This directional theme is wildly reflected in many areas, in art, design, and architecture. We want an art piece, a sofa, a car, or a kitchen to look hyper-sexualised, crunchy, shamelessly lush, and as irresistible as a candy.

These aesthetics are now so pervasive that they have returned to their field of origin, and are expressed in designer food, or the ‘foodie' realm. The new generation of chefs escalate the art of seduction to new heights, creating eye-candy dishes that redefine consumption. More than merely “aesthetic” they design for us truly memorable “take-away” experiences, which provoke thought and invite conversation.

The Tempting Art exhibition takes as its tenet that food is the cardinal measure of consumption; the most fundamental object designed, which plays an implicit and complex role in what we consume.

Irresistibly appetising, the “edible gems” conceived for the project by our invitees, entice a delightful thrill and evoke childhood desires for lollipops and jelly cakes. This imaginary three-course menu will delight, inspire, and make you giggle. It offers a notion of duality- old and new world, low and high culture, good and bad taste. It is seemingly hilarious, yet thought provoking and inspiring, infusing us with creativity.

Artists:

BETTINA BEYLERIAN “Meteorite Bread”
BENOIT + BO “Gâteaux pour les Ancêtres”
SHANE BRADFORD “Mini Tusk Lemon & Lime Chilli Chicken Jelly”
ROBERTO CAPUCCI “Chocolate Plissé”
JULIEN CARREYN “Licorice Screen”
GABRIELE CENTAZZO “Torta di Compleanno di Madre Terra”
MIGUEL CHEVALIER “Digital Crepes”
VALENTINA CORTESE “Lily Sweet Lily” – merangue
MAURIZIO GALANTE & TAL LANCMAN “Carrara Marshmallows”
MASSIMO GAMMACURTA “Baccalà lollipop, Hamburger lollipop, Meat lollipop”
YAYOI KUSAMA “Pumpkin Cake” Created for the restaurant of Mudam-Museum of Modern Art, Luxebourg
PIERRE LA POLICE “Human Beans” – green tea marzipan
PINI LEIBOVICH “It's What Happy Tastes Like” – popcicle
ERINA MATSUI “BarbaUpa” – marzipan
MISSONI “Wool Ball” -almond paste
BARBARA PALA “Pane e Coro” – bread, sugar
SIMONE PERROTTE “Baker's Nightmare” – chocolate bread
GAETANO PESCE “Beef sandwich, Egg sandwich, Fish sandwich” Created for the restaurant of Mudam-Museum of Modern Art, Luxebourg
DOROTHEE SELZ “Tasting bread”
ANTONIO TAORMINA “Tetta Pontina” – cookie
ARLETTE VERMEIREN “Reglisette”
JEAN-MICHEL WILMOTTE “Bûche de Noël” – chocolate, baba, blueberries, cassis