User:Alice/Publication
Concept
The culture of reviews is something that drives both the developments of products and features, but also the growth of communities around a product. In the case of meal replacements, within the communities around the products made by various brands, and the recipes that people develop and personalize for themselves, personal reviews are crucial. Consumers do massive amounts of research before deciding to try one brand or another, or create their own versions. In discussions like those on the Reddit subreddit r/Soylent, which is dedicated completely to this range of products, but not of any brand in particular, people often come asking others for their personal reviews, which can influence their decision.
Therefore, I want to contribute to the huge sea of meal replacement reviews with my own research, which is represented in this case by my thesis, accompanied by my archive of materials that I've been collecting since the beginning of my research.
What is it
The project that has been the focus of the past year is based on a large collection of material, from text, to images, to videos. In terms of work produced, it's composed of a written essay which follows the development of the meal replacement phenomenon and puts it in a cultural, socio-economic context, a video essay which focuses on meal replacements as alleged solutions to problems, a website which documents the project, and a multi-sensory installation.
The archive of the project contains a number of material in various media, such as audio files, spreadsheets and written diaries, transcriptions, etc. The connections between all these pieces is crucial in having a broad outlook on the topic, and understanding all the implications that come with a seemingly inconspicuous range of products. This is why I wanted a publishing platform which can highlight all these connections through hyperlinks.
Website
A critical resource for the meal replacement curious.
My aim is to organize available material online in a way in which it reflects the various connections I made while exploring the state of food today at its intersection with technology.
Hosting
Continuing with the concept of a bedroom-based project, the website is self-hosted on the server running from a RaspberryPi in my own house.
Types of content
Text
- Thesis, written in markdown
- Transcription of interview
- Quotes and excerpts
Images
- personal archive
- screenshots of product websites
- food appropriation in tech
- transhumanism
Video
- video essay
- other product reviews
- vintage videos on food
- promotional videos from brands
Online articles
- see the ones used as references
Audio
- eating sounds
- interview