Sunday night was the first of several Bread Friend Maps that will be happening in the pacific northwest this summer. And it was even more fun than I imagined! I mean, I knew it was going to be a good time, but it is always great when something exceeds your expectations!
As a recap, the concept of the Bread Friend Map is by UK designer Alexandre Bettler. “The Bread Friend Map is using bread to improve communication. It is based on the French word for friend, ‘copain’, describing someone you share your bread with. Co-’ standing for ‘with’ and ‘-pain’ for ‘bread’, a friend is someone you share your bread with, and is the level of communication explored for this project. For Gradual, each visitor is offered a slice of a single piece two meter long rye bread, everyone sharing a slice of the same bread. In return, you are asked to add a sticker with your name on yourself and one on the Bread Friend Map, and to trace (dotted line) the link to anyone you know on the map. This will show your connection to other people who you shared the bread with. If there is anyone you fancy, find his/her name on the sticker s/he is wearing and use the map to connect to her/him or any other visitor in the room, everyone being the friend of a friend. The shorter the bread goes, the bigger the map becomes and more friends there are. It reveals the process of design – the physical act of creating – through generating and experimenting rather than finishing and polishing the work.”
By curating the Bread Friend map as an accessory to my Eating Design exhibition, I am connecting what I do as an Eating Designer with an international context so viewers can see I am not working in a bubble 
. It was also a way to forge other connections such as between different countries (the UK and US), cities (London and Portland, OR), individuals (who knew each other or did not know each other at the event), and with me. The connections do not stop their either; the act of making the bread, the people it took to actually produce the five foot long bread loaf was incredible! The entire process from figuring out how to make a huge loaf of bread, where to find an oven that size, help kneading and baking, transporting it, and finally the map itself was amazing.
The Bread Friend Map will be making two more appearances this summer. The first at the JOIN design show in Seattle on June 12th at Ouch My Eye Gallery. Join is a neat organization that is “a place for designers, enthusiasts, and dreamers to converge via design shows and events. JOIN promotes emerging American design by providing designers a forum to show work and get feedback.” I am excited to be a part of this group of designers and forward thinkers!
The second will be at the Time Based Arts Festival (TBA) here in Portland, Oregon, an international event held from September 4-14th, 2009.
“Portland Institute for Contemporary Art’s annual convergence of contemporary performance, dance, music, new media and visual arts projects in Portland, Oregon. Now in its sixth year, the Time-Based Art (TBA) Festival is presented from September 4-14, 2008 with visual art installations running until October 4. The TBA Festival examines and celebrates every form of contemporary art and is the only festival of its kind in North America.”
Many of these photos are courtesy of Andrew Owen
