I was invited to the TBA festival this year to do the bread friend map, a project I’ve curated before in Seattle, another location in Portland, and now here. The original concept is by a designer out of the UK, Alexandre Bettler. I love the layers of connections this project entails: between myself and another designer, between two countries, between languages, between strangers, and between friends–all through bread! The Time Based Art festival is an international affair that happens every year in Portland. Artists and performers from all over the world are invited to come to Portland for a week to do their thing including theater, performance art, modern dance, interactive things like the Bread Friend Map, sculpture, or installation, just to name a few. These activities happen all over the city at various times and there is a great guidebook to lead you through this week of art-overdo, it is pretty neat 
. Thank you PICA (Portland Institute of Contemporary Art) for hosting this amazing event! And for including me!
The building where my event was held, along with several others, is a closed down old high school. It was the perfect space to set up for various events that happened in different classrooms, hallways, and out on the lawn. I loved the location for this!
What do you do with left over five foot long bread? French toast! While in Seattle this weekend, I stayed with some lovely family and as a thank you, I made them breakfast the following morning for being such gracious hosts!
Big Bread French Toast
6-12 eggs, depending on how thick your slices of bread are and how hard they are (I used close to a dozen eggs for about 8 pieces, but they were thick and hearty)
1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 capful of vanilla extract
Whisk together ingredients in a big bowl. Place your first few slices in there and let them soak up the mixture for a few minutes. Warm up your pan with a good sized pat of butter, place the slices on the pan with heat on medium to low heat. Brown on both sides until done. You might want to check the middles if they were especially thick slices to make sure it’s cooked through. While cooking, soak the next round of bread in the egg mixture!
Berry Compote
If you have some fresh berries around, clean and cut them up to serve with it. Take half of them and mash with a potato masher and/or fork for a nice compote to spread over the french toast!
Eggs a la Julia
3-4 eggs (serves 2)
3 tablespoons half and half or heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter, approx.
Coat a small skillet with butter all along the bottom and sides. Combine eggs and cream in a bowl. With a fork, gently stab each egg until broken, but not whisked! Just break the yolks gently and pour the egg mixture into the pan. Turn on low heat and cook for about 10 minutes. After you notice it beginning to cook, gently pick up the skillet every now and then to move the egg mixture on top around. You will not be disappointed with these eggs!
The Bread Friend Map experience in Seattle went great! People were excited about the humongous bread, the chance to connect, and it was neat for me to see another map grow so organically in a different location.
I was excited to meet the people behind BRITE Collective as well as the brains and brawn behind the Seattle JOIN design collective. Seattle has a really dynamic and progressive design community that I was so excited to be a part of. The sheer size of Seattle lends to a wider range of designers from all walks of life to be a part of their community. This particular group (members of BRITE and JOIN) are interested in trying to break free of the “designer” mold that can creep up on practicing designers. What I mean by this is designers (especially in the states, I’ve found) can find themselves trapped in the business side of design not feeling as creatively free as their artist counterparts. They would like to show case the beauty and functionality of our everyday lives because of design through projects, charrettes, and possibly eating design events! By showcasing how design impacts much of our daily lives, they would like to bring awareness and a more widely percieved value back to what it is they love and do: creatively express, make, and design for the world around them. Bravo! I was very excited to be a part of their discussions and look forward to possible future collaborations and/or discussions!
Here are the Bread Friend Map Seattle pictures as well as a video of us putting the loaf into the wood fired oven over at Taste Bud. Bon appetit!
The Bread Friend Map experience in Seattle went great! People were excited about the humongous bread, the chance to connect, and it was neat for me to see another map grow so organically in a different location.
I was excited to meet the people behind BRITE Collective as well as the brains and brawn behind the Seattle JOIN design collective. Seattle has a really dynamic and progressive design community that I was so excited to be a part of. The sheer size of Seattle lends to a wider range of designers from all walks of life to be a part of their community. This particular group (members of BRITE and JOIN) are interested in trying to break free of the “designer” mold that can creep up on practicing designers. What I mean by this is designers (especially in the states, I’ve found) can find themselves trapped in the business side of design not feeling as creatively free as their artist counterparts. They would like to show case the beauty and functionality of our everyday lives because of design through projects, charrettes, and possibly eating design events! By showcasing how design impacts much of our daily lives, they would like to bring awareness and a more widely percieved value back to what it is they love and do: creatively express, make, and design for the world around them. Bravo! I was very excited to be a part of their discussions and look forward to possible future collaborations and/or discussions!
Here are the Bread Friend Map Seattle pictures as well as a video of us putting the loaf into the wood fired oven over at Taste Bud. Bon appetit!
The Bread Friend Map experience in Seattle went great! People were excited about the humongous bread, the chance to connect, and it was neat for me to see another map grow so organically in a different location.
I was excited to meet the people behind BRITE Collective as well as the brains and brawn behind the Seattle JOIN design collective. Seattle has a really dynamic and progressive design community that I was so excited to be a part of. The sheer size of Seattle lends to a wider range of designers from all walks of life to be a part of their community. This particular group (members of BRITE and JOIN) are interested in trying to break free of the “designer” mold that can creep up on practicing designers. What I mean by this is designers (especially in the states, I’ve found) can find themselves trapped in the business side of design not feeling as creatively free as their artist counterparts. They would like to show case the beauty and functionality of our everyday lives because of design through projects, charrettes, and possibly eating design events! By showcasing how design impacts much of our daily lives, they would like to bring awareness and a more widely percieved value back to what it is they love and do: creatively express, make, and design for the world around them. Bravo! I was very excited to be a part of their discussions and look forward to possible future collaborations and/or discussions!
Here are the Bread Friend Map Seattle pictures as well as a video of us putting the loaf into the wood fired oven over at Taste Bud. Bon appetit!
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
We baked our five foot long bread loaf the other day and it turned out incredible! We were all so happy, patting ourselves on the back for how it turned out because initially, we had no idea what was going to happen!
A big thanks to Lauren Lamotte for her incredible baking skills and fearless approach to my wacky request. She was the brains behind how to make 15 pounds of bread dough, found a friend to make a five foot long bread peel, and researching wood oven baking. Not only was this bread pulled off, it was amazingly good! (I mean, who knows how a five foot long wood-fired bread loaf is really going to taste! None of us did, but we were happy it tasted just like, well, great bread!).
The pensive baker, Ms. Lauren Lamotte, waiting for the bread to be finished!
Jason “playing” the five foot peel!
Another big thanks to Ned Ludd, one of Portland’s finest wood fire oven establishments, for allowing us to use their wood fired oven! If you are in Portland or find yourself here, this restaurant is a must go-to. I love Jason and Ben’s philosophy behind their food as simple fare that relies on the quality of ingredients. They do interesting things with their menu and are not afraid to try new (or really really old) recipes. The way they have set up their restaurant is incredible too, making it cozy, comfortable, and easy to relax in. Thanks so much guys!
Jason and his baby daughter readying the oven
The making of this bread loaf was, in my opinion, one of the best parts of this project. Yes, the loaf itself is for the Bread Friend Map, however, the connections and friendships made, the new ideas planted and shared, all because we were sharing in baking bread together. It takes the word copain a step further and it is not only breaking and sharing bread with friends, it is the baking of the bread as well that ultimately leads to friendships and connecting with one another! I love the process that goes into the larger events that I do. I find that it is all those steps with everyone involved that I truly connect with, the end event becoming like the cherry on top. Thank you Chodun, Morgan, Jason, Ben, Andrew, CJ, Dad, Kim, and Molly for your wonderful presence, support, and help at this event!
Morgan (front) and Lauren enjoying some coffee and homemade treats we brought while waiting for the bread to rise. They are opening a cafe soon for their Dovetail Bakery! 
Looking for the car to load our loaf in
Today is my birthday . I can’t think of a better way to celebrate it than with a giant loaf of bread and a great group of people who helped me make it!
Stay tuned for pictures from The Bread Friend Map event. It was so fun!
Chodun and myself helping rotate the bread for even baking
My installation is finally complete. I decided to go fairly low-fi, meaning keeping it really simple and accessible. I used chalk board paint to define my space and also offset the white covers of my books. It became a great canvas to write with chalk:
“How can Eating Design make an impact your life? Think of it as a framework: a new way to communicate something, to incite interaction amongst people, or personally reflect. It is as versatile as you.”
That is one of my favorite summations of Eating Design.
I also have the blog as part of the exhibit. It has been such an incredible and important aspect to my work which initially surprised me! It started out as a virtual sketchbook really, a place where I could amass my projects, thoughts, ideas, and research. But I am so happy that it has become so much more than that for me. I have become part of a community that I otherwise would have never found, which I am so grateful for. The blogging community has been one of the most supportive and energizing communities I have ever been a part of and am eternally thankful .
Off to practice for my Oral Defense happening on Monday. Have a great weekend!
