Wednesday, April 22, 2009

April, 2008



"marketPLACE"
By Sara Rabinowitz and Jung A. woo

The first pick-up truck project was called "marketPLACE".  The title marketplace comes from the etymology of the word "forum" taken from the online etymology dictionary* stating it was a "place of assembly in ancient Rome".  Dating back to 1690, a forum was an outdoor location for public discussion to take place.


The "marketPLACE" was a
public art performance initiative that connects diverse ethnic communities within the Chicago metropolitan area through food. Woo and her collaborator, Sara Rabinowitz were using food as a way to create connections between different communities.

The project aimed to study and explore issues relating to the complex dimensions of cultural exchange among Chic
ago ethnic communities. Chicago is one of the best cities to explore diverse ethnicity. Woo's "marketPLACE" team used the converted truck bed as a social space to study and enact issues relating to: the food cycle and the food industry, critical considerations of agriculture and GMOs (genetically modified organisms), and the politics of patents and agricultural globalization. They visited small markets and invited people to have conversations and donate a recipe based on the groceries they shopped for at the market.

The marketplace visits, interviews and interactions with local residents were video documented. They hoped to use these documented events and create a video cookbook which would be later distributed through and Internet website
. The video would incorporate the recipes with the residents' cultural background and related stories. They also plan to make a printed cookbook with collected recipes and transcribed stories. Woo and her collaborator wanted to present the documentation at a chosen market using a flat TV screen.

*
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php:forum. 1460

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