Final Project Ideas

Sources:
The Value of Food Exhibition

First Idea
I have been following freelance journalist Clarissa Wei who started out writing trendy food articles for the Village Voice, but she started venturing out to finding out about the connection of growing food and bringing the food to the table. She has traveled to China where it is transitioning from using native produce to international exports.
In this particular Youtube video Exploring Native California Plants with Journalist Clarissa Wei, she talks about "Decolonizing the Food System". The American food system was influenced by the European food system in which there are exchanges of food over the seas. However, what happens when you look around your surroundings and notice native plants?

I am from Bayside, Queens and I do not know too much about my hometown. I dug out an old exhibition pamphlet about The Matinecock Indian Exhibit from the Poppenhusen Institute (will show the pamphlet in class). This exhibition is about the Matinecock Native Americans who lived on the lands of Queens and Long Island: College Point, Flushing, Whitestone, Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck, Great Neck, Glen Head, Syosset, Huntington, Matinecoc, Cold Spring Harbor and Cow Neck. They hunted animals which are now extinct; harvested corn, squash, beans and pumpkins; and used herbs for remedies.

According to the Times Ledger Article written by Daniel Arimborgo, Exhibit shows life, culture of the original Asemericans, they used the following resources for remedies:

  1. seaweed for rheumatism,
  2. sassafras for purifying blood,
  3. white pine for coughs,
  4. white oak for acne and pains,
  5. wild cherry for stomach ache, and
  6. onions for fever and flu.

Parks to Explore: Alley Pond Park, Forest Park
http://qns.com/story/2016/06/08/queens-is-home-to-the-largest-tree-in-the-city-and-some-of-the-most-diverse-plantlife/
Other Places to Explore: Queens Botanical Garden, Bayside Historical Society, Alley Pond Environmental Center

Events at Alley Pond Environmental Center:
Friday November 10 || 7-9pm
Historian Jason Antos will lead this interactive lecture on the history of Bayside and Flushing and the Native Americans who inhabited this area. Enjoy apple cider (spiked or plain) and refreshments.


Concept & Execution
There is often a disconnection between people and nature.
I feel this disconnection because I am confined in buildings. I do not make time to explore. And so, I researched into what the Native Americans who used to live on the lands of where I live. They appreciated the nature and used them for remedies.
Use the resources mentioned above (seaweed, sassafras, white pine, white oak, wild cherry and onions) to create food-based pigments and package them in some type of form that reminds people of nature. The package will have labels of streets and avenues named after Native American trails.
http://www.brownstoner.com/queens/arts-and-culture/the-native-american-history-of-queens/
http://forgotten-ny.com/2009/12/flushings-from-a-r-avenues-with-plant-names-in-queens/

Inspiration: 
Ellie Irons Invasive Pigments
Her Process

Resources:
http://lindaweintraub.com/diy-pigments



Second Idea (The concept derives from the Chelsea Market Challenge project)
"You are what you eat."
There is a relation between psychological feelings towards the value of food and water.
When we are consumed with daily activities, we give little time to think about what kind of food to eat. And it also results in not putting time to eat our food.

Concept & Execution
Repurposing food, being creative to make instruments, and reenacting sounds of nature
(something spiritual and meditative)
Add sounds of water.

Sources: 
Vegetable Instruments
Potato Pipes

Inspiration:
Alison Knowles Paper Instruments
Onion Skin Song Event Score
Tedx Talk on Making a Carrot Clarinet

Other Research:
http://www.queensmuseum.org/2017/01/commonwealth-water-for-all




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