In this R/GA Lecture event Monica and Rosanna will get together and present a brief trajectory of their artistic practice and the development of their interest in edible insects and street food culture.
Monica Martinez is an artist, educator and designer. Her complex sculptural constructions are concerned with urban architectural landscapes, industrial buildings, containers and other objects related to food surpluses. www.monicamartinez.com
Rosanna Yau is an interdisciplinary designer based in San Francisco. Rosanna explores ways to make entomophagy (the consumption of insects as food) accessible. She is an advocate of learning through making and sharing—as a result, she is not only interested in encouraging people to try eating insects, but to also be creative and try cooking insects themselves as well. Rosanna will discuss her experiences in raising, harvesting and cooking insects, and her thesis that explored utilizing the familiar as a method to reframe edible insects as food. www.minilivestock.org
MiniLivestock will be selling some take-home insect goodies at the SFUM between 11am-4pm this Sat, Feb. 5! This will be our first time tabling at the SFUM and hopefully not our last. We will have your insect snacks ready for you just in time for the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day. If you’re not into those things, no worries—just get out of the house, eat some tasty foods and support your local vendors. See you there!
If you have never been to the event, don’t forget to sign up as a free member. You only have to do it once, and they just want to make sure you understand that the food products sold at this event may be produced in people’s homes, and not always in a commercial kitchen.
San Francisco Underground Market Saturday, February 5th
11am-4pm : Take-homeables and gifts
6pm-11pm : Hot food, Music
Location: SomArts, 934 Brannan St, @ 8th (right behind the Trader Joe’s building)
Admission: $5
Sign-up to be a member
Drinks Will Be Served
So I am Sans Diego as of Thursday. Got back to SF from the ESA’s 2010 Entomology Conference, which was my first time both attending and presenting. Stay tuned for more updates on the presentations later, but here’s a quick photo recap of my trip:
I was surprised to run into Cheryl from the UCB Entomology Museum in the exhibition room…or rather, I shouldn’t have been since the insect world is so small and all.
I also spent some time at the San Diego Zoo with David Gracer, and got some behind the scenes action at the Insect Zoo thanks to Kerri, Isabel and Chris. Thanks for the tour, guys!
Walking sticks are one of my favorite insects. This particular one was pretty awesome. She has eyes on the top of her head! Here she is playing dead. *Edit this is NOT a walking stick, but a type of grasshopper (thanks, Lou)!
A tapir!
…and an armadillo!
Also, big thanks to Peggy+Zak and Kip+Alexi for taking me into their homes. I actually didn’t realize that I liked San Diego until this week. Tasty food and company. Thanks, guys.
MiniLivestock will be joining several others on this food-themed night with a variation of the Nutritional Insects exhibition. Make sure to come by for a sampling of salted, dried crickets and mealworms. If you need even more reasons to go, KQED will be screening the films The Botany of Desire and Black Gold. There will also be food demos from local SF organizations like 18 Reasons, TCHO and Madecasse.
—————————————– “A Taste of NightLife”
Thursday, November 18th
6-10pm
$12
Must be over 21
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Here is a long, overdue post of images from the MiniLivestock Luncheon from earlier this year. More images in the MiniLivestock Luncheon album on FB. Bon appetite!
I just saw Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo last night at the Kabuki Theater in Japantown, which was really beautifully produced and written. It’s not just for people who are interested in bugs, and is not heavily academic like some might imagine…it’s a film for everyone, and one that anyone can understand and relate to…which is what I think is so great about it. Everything from the soundtrack (almost all tracks were composed specially for the film), to the visuals, to the story, worked very well together…all very poetic as most viewers would agree. My favorite part is what the Japanese philosophical entomologist/psychologist had to say about life. It was pleasant to hear, thoughtful, and made me reflect on my own life. Maybe I’ll tell you later what he said, but for now, you’ll have to go see the film for yourself!
It was interesting to learn how owning certain insects as pets or for collecting is such a nation-wide, prized and expensive hobby, not to mention a lucrative multi-million dollar industry! It’s not too different from the dog craze in the US, and how some people are willing to pay top dollar for “top” breeds. The film discussed how a culture has identified themselves with insects, which spanned from spiritual purposes, as military armor inspiration, or even popular video game characters. There was also a lively Q&A session with Jessica after the film, which unfortunately was only for the the Friday and Saturday screenings, but you can still see the film up until the 15th! While you’re at the Kabuki, don’t forget to support the project by picking up some Beetle Queen swag!
Do you have an insect-eating experience? How did you find us? We would like to hear from our visitors even if it's just to say hello! Please contact us at info@minilivestock.org.
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