Salad Days #4 Finissage

Odd Chef’s Jell-O

Within the framework of Salad Days #4 Natalija Gucheva and Manon Klein invite participating artists to reflect on their memories and personal stories by integrating the culinary as an additional layer of their artistic practices.

With its inherent ambiguity, the culinary is a space where labor, care, and creativity intertwine to shape social bonds and communities, fostering collective growth and sustainability. Referencing Sara Ahmed’s concept of the ‘dining table’ as a kinship object, this workshop aims to converge diverse perspectives that might ignite new connections and pathways.

Looking back at the past century, gelatin emerged as a quick, versatile tool in the modern kitchen, symbolizing the rise of convenience foods while elevating simple ingredients into creative dishes. Though gelatin-based dishes became staples of social gatherings, they were primarily marketed to housewives as time-saving solutions that also subtly promised to help maintain a slim figure. Beneath jello’s polished image then laid deep-seated gender expectations. In this light, gelatin serves as a historical lens, reflecting societal norms and pressures, particularly those imposed on women.

This gathering invites both exhibited artists and the audience to come together at the dining table. The act of preparing and sharing food unfolds into a collective ritual of artistic expression—where stories, flavors, and ideas simmer and blend. In this setting, the table, traditionally a site of nourishment and communal experience, transforms into a stage for new narratives, encouraging participants to explore and exchange.