Photo in top-left corner by B. Bogenschutz
For the past three years, I have been holding a pie contest called Pietopia, where the entrants are asked: What does your life taste like, in a pie? People submit a 300 word essay and their recipe for a chance to win. This year’s contest will be held on August 5th at the Buckman Portland Farmers Market. If you are interested in entering, you can read more on the Pietopia page here at Eating Is Art. I’ll be regularly updating it as I find out more about sponsors, judges, and of course, prizes!
I’m really excited that there has already been some really exciting publicity concerning Pietopia this year! Last month, I was interviewed by Jennifer Anderson at the Portland Tribune for an article titled And let them eat PIE: Portlanders seek to change the world one slice at a time. This is a great overview of what is happening in the world of pie here in Portland, Oregon. And apparently, there’s a lot.
Gina Hyams, of the forthcoming book Pie Contest in a Box, also recently interviewed me about Pietopia. Below are a few questions from the interview and you can read it in its entirety here.
What are the origins of Pietopia?
The idea of Pietopia manifested from my deep love and interest in community, connection, communication, design, and the senses. Everybody eats, so I started thinking about how this could be translated. Food and eating are our common denominator and a way for people to communicate and connect through, so I began searching out new ways to apply design-thinking and problem solving to my life passions and Pietopia became the brainchild. I chose to use pies because of their timeless appeal to the seasons, cross generations, and the local culture. I am also interested in exploring the ancient correlation between taste and feeling. The goal of Pietopia is to incite communication, connection, and communing as the interweaving entities within the fabric of our daily lives; as well as how the senses of taste and smell and the feelings/memories they can evoke, spearhead this process, and open doors for understanding. Pietopia seeks to channel our connection with food as a way to communicate, ultimately discovering what a city’s quality of life truly is.
What is the structure of your pie contest?
There are two panels of judges. The entries go through a first round of judging by food writers. Their top choices are relayed to the bakers’ panel, which determines whether the pie matches the flavors described in the baker’s story and life. I then hand off the winners to a group of artists who reinterpret their story into a visual silk-screened poster. The poster is an original piece of art and along with a few other wonderful goodies, are the prizes for the winners. The whole process starts in mid-May and culminates at the Pietopia tasting, traditionally held at a farmers market in August.
What criteria do you consider in evaluating pie (and conceptual art literary pie)?
There are actually two different sets of criteria entrants have to go through. The first is the written part: how well can you describe the taste of your life, in a pie? (For example, I am just waiting for a Ramen Noodle pie with a poignent description of that persons hardships, or a Ginger Bourbon Pecan pie describing the grandeur and complication in someone’s life.) The second criteria is the actual flavor. It’s up to the baker judges discretion to really meditate on the flavors in this pie, read and re-read that entrants story, and taste it some more to see if the two actually correlate, or if there is a disconnect or missing link.
Is there a proper technique to tasting pie?
In Pietopia’s case, yes. Food says a lot. In fact, everything we eat has it’s own story. We use food to communicate with each other every day (ex: birthday cakes, condolence casseroles, welcome cookies, I-Love-You chocolates, etc…). Pietopia is calling our food-as-communication tradition out. So as you taste these pies, you are aware of someone else’s life using taste (of the pie itself), smell (of the pie, of the people around you), sound (as you hear the winners story or talk to them directly), sight (of the visual art work, the pie, and the winner themselves), and touch (the texture of the pie, the warm breeze, brushing up against people as you try to get seconds…). And the more a person is engaged in something by using all of their senses, the more likely they are to be receptive and possibly even understand a differing perspective better.
What is your favorite kind of pie?
Peach pie in August.
Portland, Oregon seems to be Pie Nirvana. Why is that?
It must be the collective unconscious!
What are your plans for Pietopia?
I’d like to do Pietopia in cities across the country, to get a country-wide perspective on what the quality of life tastes like in individual cities. It would be incredible!
Why does pie matter today?
Pie has become a symbol of comfort and community. Those are two things people are desperately trying to get back to and find a balance in their own lives with. I don’t think pie ever didn’t matter, but in today’s busy and tech-heavy world, it’s come to represent our sense of nostalgia for bygone days.
Thank you so much Jennifer and Gina, for the wonderful article and interview! And I am really excited to see who will be entering this year, I hope it’s you!
(Image via Katy Elliot–also another nominee!)
I’m a little late in finding this out myself, but last month I was included in InStyle Magazine’s Best Of The Web! I remember seeing it in the grocery store isle checking out one day, looking at the cover, taking a deep breath and thinking “that would be cool to be part of, maybe someday…” and not even picking it up to flip through because I was in a hurry. So it was a surprise when Jacky, the editor at Chef’s Blade, an online food community I write for, wrote me a congratulatory email last night. I investigated a little deeper and found several other great blogs who had been on the list and found one who was mentioned on the same printed page of the magazine as my blog. When I saw who I was mentioned with, I was so honored and super pumped to be along side some of my favorite food bloggers, artists, and writers! Thank you InStyle for including my blog! And congratulations to everyone else who was included!
(Image via Bread and Courage–another great nominee as well!)
Recently, I was interviewed for La Vie Magazine, a design magazine out of Taiwan. I was super excited to find that they had interviewed other amazing eating designers like Marije Vogelzang and Julie Rothhahn, so neat! They also used my picture from my thesis Eating Design book which was a pleasant surprise 
. The questions were fun and I was so glad to be a part of this. Thank you La Vie!
1. Where do you get your ideas from?
I find inspiration for my ideas from literally all around me: the environment, certain situations, feelings, needs, and wants. I find new ways of communicating ideas, stories, and messages through using all five senses; there are so many places to begin or look for new approaches when you expand your toolbox beyond just the visual or audio.
2. Have you had any experiences that you now look back on as having shaped your identity as an artist/designer?
Yes, as an urban planner I was frustrated with the lack of communication and understanding across diverse cultural, language, societal, educational, and economic backgrounds. I thought graphic design would be the bridge but soon realized that there was still something missing, something that honestly connects us all—everybody eats—but we also learn and understand better when we involve all five senses in the process. This is what made me realize I needed to shift my direction and perception about what design means for me by aligning my passions for food, connection, communication, design as an action, and people under something that really resonated: Eating Design.
3. What is the most difficult thing you’ve created or had the hardest time with?
When I have a hard time creating, it is because the origins of the project somehow do not resonate with me. That is when I take a step back and reassess if doing the project is the best path, or if there is a better way to approach it. The projects that I do end up doing always resonate in my heart which I believe is the reason for their success.
4. How can you describe the process whereby you create these things?
I start with aligning the fundamentals behind everything that I do—design as an action, communication, connection, people, and food. I then break it down and start working from more specific points in which my designs all start from: taste, place, personal history, memory, and community.
5. What role does art play in your daily life? As an artist/designer, is there ever such thing as a day off?
I don’t differentiate between daily life, art, and design—I believe they are one and the same. Everything around us can spark an idea or lead us to another project; it’s just about tilting your head a little to the side and getting a slightly different angle on what we perceive as familiar.
6. Are there any organizations or associations that you belong to?
Not really, I tend to make up my own (like Pietopia!) and invite/encourage others to join me!
7. Have you attended any notable exhibitions lately? What was it about and how did it go?
Yes, I went to the JOIN Design show in Seattle last June that I was a part of and it was incredible. The JOIN group focuses on the convergence of different design backgrounds and promotes emerging American design by providing designers a forum to show work and get feedback.
8. You know, we hear a lot in the news about the importance of eating organic food, we hear about locavorism, we hear about freeganism–food is being more and more politicized. Do we have to change the way we eat and how to practice with design?
Eating locally and organically should be a given, but unfortunately—based on political or societal reasons—it is not for many of us. The slow food movement, I believe, should be the way we live and eat, and Eating Design takes the concepts from that movement as a given. I think we should all pay closer attention to where our food comes from and how it got to our plates—you might be surprised with how different the same food can taste from two different places. But when you experience an Eating Design event, the food may taste different or feel different based on the experience you are having. To practice eating with design—if I understand the question correctly—is different than eating normally. As the designer, I am ultimately trying to solve a problem, communicate something, connect people, or incite interaction through the action of eating and an experience.
9. Have you ever worked with Eastern Food? Can you give some suggestions for a Taiwanese Chef?
I have not worked extensively with Eastern food, but I love it! I am planning on learning more about the history and rich heritage of Eastern cuisine, but until then I would like some suggestions from a Taiwanese chef!
I was interviewed last month for a user design experience magazine and on-line forum, Use8. “Use8 is the premier forum for discussions in user experience. The network is at the intersection of different creative disciplines that all come together to form an open sharespace; that encourages idea exchange, knowledge transfer and emergent collaboration.” The interviewer, Alfonso Crimini, came up with some really great questions that were challenging and insightful. Thank you, Alfonso!
Use8> So, what do you do and what’s your background?
Tricia> I started out as an Urban Planner, experiencing firsthand the disparities in communication and how misunderstood the messages were by diverse communities. It was then I realized how important it was for me to find a way that allowed me to not only communicate and connect with diverse audiences, but to do it in a way that connected with myself as well. So I quit planning, managed a bookstore while taking night classes in graphic design, built up my portfolio, and applied to grad school for my Masters in Fine Arts and Design. After my first year in school, I found myself getting more excited about what cake I wanted to bake when I got home from the studio than the graphic work I was producing. This is when I realized I needed to shift my direction and perception about what design means for me by aligning my passions for food, connection, communication, design, and people under something that really resonated: Eating Design.
Use8> Can you tell us exactly what is Eating Design?
Tricia> Eating Design was first termed by a Dutch designer, Marije Vogelzang. We both have slightly different but complementary interpretations of this new field in design, and are constantly tweaking, building, and expanding it through different projects. For me, Eating Design is rooted in the tradition of graphic design as a mode to communicate stories, messages, or ideas through food concepts and experiences. It can become a framework for people to connect more with themselves and with others, by using food as our shared common denominator to open doors that traditional design methods, such as strict print or web, can not do. I get really excited about the malleability of Eating Design and how accessible it is for people no matter their language, socio-economic background, culture, or race. Everybody eats.
Use8> How did you come up with the idea of “Eating Design” experiences?
Tricia> I was looking for a way to align my true interests—design, communication, connection, people, and food. Communicating through food and creating an eating experience seemed to make the most sense while trying to integrate all these things. I then broke it down and started working with very specific points in which my designs all start from: taste, place, personal history, memory, and community.
Use8> Design is essentially about negotiating constraints and solving a problem. When designing an “eating experience” are you trying to solve a problem?
Tricia> Most certainly. It is always a challenge to figure out the simplest and most direct way to communicate something. But to do it in a way that resonates across cultural, societal, or language barriers is a whole other level of challenge.
Use8> Eating is already an interactive experience where people naturally communicate and socialize, how can you improve these social interactions through design?
Tricia> Eating as a social interaction is the perfect segue to introduce deeper concepts or meanings. When we eat there are many things happening which become the perfect entry points for people to reflect, connect, or experience a new way to look at something. First, we are using all five senses, automatically engaging more of our brains in what we are doing. When we are reading or listening to something, there are still four other senses that could be involved to heighten our awareness and help us learn and remember better. Second, since eating is a social thing we all do, we all understand eating. So why not mix that up a little and introduce some unexpected elements to incite conversation amongst a group of guests who may not know each other, ultimately connecting them with the message/story/idea and each other through the action of eating. I look at the Eating Design experience not necessarily improving social interactions as those can and do happen naturally on their own, but enabling those interactions on a different level through what, how, why, and where the food is being served. I am interested in not just pleasant interactions, but honest ones, where differences and similarities between people each have their place at the table and are equally celebrated.
Use8> In some of your work you allude to a connection between taste and feeling. This is clear, I feel good when I have a warm cup of tea and it’s cold outside. However, I sense your idea is more complex. Can you elaborate on this idea of the relationship between taste and feeling and why this might be important for a designer to understand?
Tricia> Taste, and ultimately the sense of smell, has a visceral response for people because of how those senses are situated in our brains. They connect directly to our memory center without the filters that our senses of sound or sight go through. We are more apt to question something that we’ve seen or heard, thinking about it, and even choosing to remember it how we will. We can easily ask ourselves, did I really just hear that noise? Or, my eyes must be playing tricks on me! But when we smell our grandmothers’ perfume, we are automatically transported back to specific and personal memories of our grandmother. This is important for the designer to understand because of the impact and success a multi-sensory design can have. I am utilizing that visceral response we get through taste and smell by exploring the other layers of meaning that I attribute to go along with it, namely: place, personal history, memory, and community. I am questioning what all these points share in common and where the gaps are between them, ultimately connecting the people involved in the Eating Design experience with themselves and/or with the others involved.
Use8> Is there a difference between Eating Design and what the culinary artist does?
Tricia> Yes. The culinary artist’s guiding principal is mastering cooking technique or creating great tasting food. We share a commonality in accessory principals such as the dining experience and local/organic food sources. However, Eating Design focuses on not just what we are eating, but how we are eating, and the meaning behind it all. I am not a chef, therefore I seek out culinary artists and chefs who are masters in their field to collaborate and help create the project I am envisioning. If something turns out tasting badly, I think that is an interesting point to explore in the context of particular projects. Eating Design is about the connections people have with themselves and with others during an experience by facilitating an extra level of awareness through a food concept; it is holistic where there is not only food to be eaten, but the food is infused with meaning through how it is served, where it is served, and what is being served.
Use8> How important is it to understand the people that will experience your Eating Designs? How do you try to understand them, do you apply any research technique?
Tricia> The research I do is used to set up a framework for people to have access to and make the experience their own; the techniques differ between projects. For my Favorite Meal series, I have devised a series of questions which are sent to interested participants. Their answers guide me to design their experience with personal entry points based on specific memories as well as including small interjections and interpretations of my own. I am most interested in the accessibility of my designs to diverse audiences across cultural, societal, economic, and lingual barriers. It is important for me to understand the context and history of where, what, and why eating design events are happening. However, once those have been considered, the beauty of using food in design is its universal appeal, because everybody eats. The Eating Design then guides the guests through their own personal journey, connection, and understanding of the event. As the designer, I believe it is important to give my audience simple and universal entry points so they can connect with themselves, the other people involved, and the experience itself with a personal understanding. The event is then ultimately designed by the individual experiencing it, taking away what he or she will based on how well I set up the initial framework for accessibility.
