February 22, 2014

The Center for Genomic Gastronomy

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By Reese Kruse Images courtesy of The Center for Genomic Gastronomy Despite  the food plated exquisitely before you, you are not sitting down to a meal. You, my friend, have brought yourself to this table for the hero’s journey. Through these courses you will journey through the Golden Fleece of bio-engineered wheat fields; you will see white clouds of meringue greyed with the smog of your home. You may even be forced to slay the comfort foods of Mother in an Oedipal confrontation. The Center for Genomic Gastronomy is an artist-led think tank that seeks to fully explore the biodiversity of the biotechnology of human food systems. This is art and exploration into the most universal media of the human race. This art doesn’t just ask the questions but seeks the answers to global food problems. It speaks to all who have the strength to taste it. Zack Denfeld and Catherine Kramer founded the center in 2010. Since its founding, the think tank has added Emma Conley and Heather Julius to its collection of philosophers, scientists, chefs, and artists. This is our cultural leadership hard at task, our best people seeking mischievous and whimsical answers. The voice of global art is changing faster…

November 9, 2013

Stephanie Simek

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By Reese Kruse Photographs by Leif Anderson The rhythmic sound of the human condition is juxtaposed against the quiet play of laser-induced bells. Stephanie Simek is creating, tinkering her way through the soundscapes of bio-science and electrical engineering. The spirit of this driven artist chases an answer in the exact manner that the scientist does: “All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree” (Albert Einstein). Her methods follow Edison’s ethic of persistence; her outcomes remind us to stop, stand still, and listen. Through her continued experimentation and personal sense of wonder, Stephanie’s works range between the sciences, pivoting around sound; sculpture; and site-specific installation anchoring her works. In her work Slop, created for the Creative Music Guild’s improvisational summit in June 2012, it was the sound waves that created the physical sculpture. The installation melded human noises and music physically passing through a non-Newtonian fluid. Non-Newtonian fluids interpret sound waves as a physical matter that writhes in time to the ebb and flow of the sounds that produce them. During the spring of 2012, Stephanie participated in Pacific Northwest College of Art’s celebration of John Cage’s 100th birthday—Happy Birthday: A Celebration of Chance and Listening. Cage and…