User:10000BL/Thesis

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THESIS OUTLINE

Introduction

For my graduation I want to make work that is build around the sentence 'Nr. 39 with Rice'. This sentence comes from an event during a live episode of Holland Got Talent in 2013. In the specific episode jury member and Dutch famous singer Gordon asks a Chinese contestant if he is going to sing 'Nr. 39 with Rice'. This is a reference to the extensive menus of Chinese restaurant. It says something about how Dutch/Western society looks towards Chinese food and their culture.

The project currently exist of a range of ideas working with and commenting on the sentence. Central is a video work where my father, a former chef and owner of a restaurant, is cooking a dish in an actual Chinese restaurant. The dish he cooks becomes the first Nr 39. In the video work the emphasis lies on the different stages of cooking. Specifically the different proceedings it takes to cook the dish. The work is a combination of detailshots that focus on the proceedings (e.g. cutting the products) and overview shots where you see my father interacting with a kitchen where he spend a large time of his life. The video work ends when he decorates the plate.

Additionally I want to make a video work in which I make a reproduction of my father's dish using silicone material. The dish enters the video work in its original form. Every piece is taken apart from the dish and flooded with silicone. When the positives are made every piece is painted in its original color. The video work ends when the dish is recreated by their silicone equivalents.

A third video work shows the process of engraving a carrot into a sculpture by my father. A second option is to prepare the carrot for folding it into a rose. The video work shows a frontal postion focused on the hands of my father. The idea is to shot this video with portrait postion in a dark place that is lighten with one warm bulb positioned at the left side of my father leaving a shadow side on the right. The three video are connected, but doesn't necessary show a lineair story. The title of the video works starts with 'Chapter#' followed by a more specific title. Future chapters are possible.

An important aspect of the project is shown in Chapter 2, the reproduction of my father's Nr 39. In the video work you see the process of making a silicone version of the dish. The silicone sculpture is an actual work in itself and the idea is to reproduce other Nr.39-dishes from Chinese restaurants. In the end the collection of these silicone equivalents of Nr. 39 become a cabinet on itself.

Thesis

It is advised to me to write a thesis that focuses on my own practise and to look at other examples of pratice based documents. What I think is also important is to include a chapter that is dedicated to the history of Chinese people in The Netherlands and the rise (and fall) of Chinese restaurants and their food culture. Oostenwind (2010) by Karina Meeuwse is book that gives such an insight. [Steve: Ok begin by making an annotation of this book. Deadline end of next week]

The second chapter focuses on my own practise. In this chapter I want to describe my methodology and try to link (red thread, core) together 4 different projects namely TE KOOP, Rejected, my project around Tinder and Nr. 39 with Rice. In this chapter I want to include articles from the book The Cultures of Collecting (1994) by John Esner and Roger Cardinal. [Steve: Make annotation of these chapters. Deadline: end of next week]

In third chapter the focus lies to link my practise to a larger context. As far as I can anticpate I want to include and describe artists like Sophie Calle, Ai Weiwei, Marcel Broodthaers, Mark Dion, and Herman de Vries. I also want to include the work made by Chantal Akerman (Jeanne Dielman, 1975) and Ang Lee's movie Eat, Drink, Man, Woman (1994).

It is difficult for me to formulate a clear question that I try to answer in my thesis. I need to elaborate that a bit more, because a thesis that describes partly practise is something new for me.

References




Notes:

Reel Food: Essays on Food and Film (New York: Routledge, 2004)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA15oCKCYHM


NOTE:

chapter chinese food culture/ perception vs high cuisine, integration of chinese in netherlands, positioning of them

Chinese food culture


WITH STEVE:

Question: what questions are your work asking?

Active voice: you are driving this thesis, your desire informs it, the questions come from you.

Aim: This thesis aims to provide a context for the work I have been making over the past year. In the thesis I will provide a document of historical references, accounts of my family history in the cooking trade and description and analysis of my work. This work attempts to connect with my background (this is also visible in the commodity… project). Crucial to this is the positioning of Chinese people in Dutch society.

I try to give a meaning to this sentence by making a work (in which detail which shows respect for work, there is a care in the preparation of this work) This care and attention is echoed in my piece silicon sculpture od my father’s dish. The sentence degrades the activity the sculpture will exalt it. I would like to make a lot of sculptures No 39 [outline the reason and the differences]

Food is a metaphor; something which helps us connect, pass on , as opposed to just providing basic sustenance

The history has shifted from people who came with the prospect of working, saving and returning to China, toward a place of residence, which allowed the food industry to develop.

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