Kbaumlier

Author: Kbaumlier

Kristen Baumlier’s work spans the full spectrum of interdisciplinary media, including performance, interactive installation, video and audio works.

Identical Lunch: Food + Performance by Alison Knowles

Posted on March 19, 2013March 24, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Ever eat a tuna fish sandwich on wheat toast with butter and lettuce, no mayo, and a cup of soup or glass of buttermilk? Alison Knowles, conceived of the piece the Identical Lunch in the 1960s. when a friend and fellow Fluxus artist Philip Corner observed that she ate the same lunch every day at a local diner This daily ritual became a performance where she invited friends to try the same lunch and to write about their experiences.

Knowles wrote a score for the piece, which reads, “The Identical Lunch: a tunafish sandwich on wheat toast with lettuce and butter, no mayo, and a large glass of buttermilk or a cup of soup was and is eaten many days of each week at the same place and at about the same time.” The piece explores how no object is identical to itself within the context of the human experience. Years later, the project has evolved to have communal events where groups of people eat the lunch, and people generate photographs and writings about the experience.

At MoMA, the Identical Lunch event was done in 2011 with visitors eating the Identical Lunch with Knowles. More recently, the piece was part of the exhibition Feast at the SMART Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. Here it was featured in an installation where several times a week, the security supervisor Paul Bryan puts out a real glass of buttermilk and a tunafish sandwich prepared fresh by a local caterer, according to the specifications of Knowles’ score. The lunch is on display and age (and most likely start to mold and smell) until a few days later Paul replaces them again. The museum’s café has the Identical Lunch available for purchase, and visitors are invited to perform the score and eat lunch.

A video about the Identical Lunch is online, and by watching it – you might even get inspired to eat a tuna sandwich.. and maybe a glass of buttermillk.

Image Source:
www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1126
blogs.uchicago.edu/feast/2012/05/planning_the_identical_lunch.html

Links:

vimeo.com/36770058

www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1126

blogs.uchicago.edu/feast/2012/05/planning_the_identical_lunch.html

Urban Rancher: A City Boy Building a Homestead

Posted on March 18, 2013March 24, 2013 by Kbaumlier

I recently was able to get the inside scoop on what it is like to buy some land and build a small house off the grid – all by yourself, by checking the blog of the Urban Rancher (a.k.a. “E.”) “Can a city boy build his dream homestead on a mountain, by himself and with no mortgage?” is the description for the website, which documents the challenges of a man who buys some land on a mountain, and works to build a small home that is off the grid, and is 4000 feet above the “California sprawl.”

Past updates on the site, which has been called a construction blog, include E.’s experience of lifting a heavy framed wall into place by himself and the challenges working as a professional in California for 20 years (and watching the work leave California and head to other areas.)

You can see pictures of the small house that he built on the site, and also see past progress on the project. The last post asked readers to send suggestions about how to create a mobile recording studio.. but with a grand piano as part of the design. With talk of tiny houses on the rise, this is a great site to learn more about the process of building your own tiny house, as well as the challenges of having woodpeckers, and buying a parcel of land.

Image Source:
urbanrancher.wordpress.com/

Links:

urbanrancher.wordpress.com/

Build It Naturally: A Green Building Store

Posted on March 15, 2013March 15, 2013 by Kbaumlier

When I was in downtown Asheville, NC this week, I stopped by to check out Build It Naturally, a green materials hardware and resource store. The store carries non-toxic paint, hardwood plywood that is formaldehyde-free, and materials such as cork, linoleum, bamboo and other materials.

I checked out the showroom, and spent time talking with the owner Jennifer Woodruff and talked to her a bit about the business. She summarized the store as having, “non-toxic, renewable, or green” materials, and mentioned that they both sell materials and sources as well as doing contracting work.

Woodruff has had a lifelong interest in natural. Her parents did recycling, composting, had an organic garden, did canning, and did natural dying the wool of the sheep they raised on the farm years ago before it became trendy. In 2005, Jennifer met Susan Bahl who started the Natural Home Design Center, and ended up working for and being inspired by her passion for only having natural ingredients in all the products.

She decided to make her own green business in Asheville, and continues to bring new products into the store. We talked about wool carpet, a new hemp product used for building, and milk paint, which is a natural paint made of pigment.

I found the samples of cork to be interesting. They varied in textures and patterns, and are often used for floors and also as counters in cafes. The display of natural linoleum was impressive. I recently learned that linoleum is bio-based, durable, non-toxic and also anti-microbial, and comes in more than 100 colors. Other materials they have include stains and finishes, insulation, and sealing and caulking – making it possible to get most building materials at one store.

On the website, you can read about many of the materials, and there is also valuable information about health, fabrication tips, and other information.

Image Source:
Kristen Baumlier
Links:

http://builditnaturally.com/

Double D’s : A Café in a Double Decker Bus

Posted on March 15, 2013March 15, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Food trucks have been on the rise lately, but in Asheville, NC there is a café that takes food on wheels to a new level. Double D’s, a coffee shop located in downtown Asheville, is located inside of a bright red double decker bus. It is parked on downtown Biltmore Ave., and has been in operation for over twelve years from the same location.

The bus is a 1963 Lodekka model double decker bus came from Bristol, England where it was a public transportation vehicle in the 1960’s and 70’s. It somehow ended up in Atlanta, Georgia in the 1970’s and was as a “party bus.” The bus ended in Ashville in 1999, and has been a coffee shop every since.

Entering Double D’ s, you duck your head to get under the spiral stairs that go to the second floor. The café is on the first floor, and has a tin roof ceiling and red chairs. Coffee, espresso, and local bakery are for sale, and the chai tea that I had there was good.

On the second floor of the bus, there are reupholstered bus seats with tables that are painted or have mosaic tiles on them. The atmosphere is funky and upbeat, and when I was there, people would greet each other and talk when drinking coffee up there. Double D’s has an outside courtyard with tables, and the sometimes have live performances outside.

More history and information about the menu and barristas can be seen on their website, and you of course can stop by and ask questions at 41 Biltmore Ave. in downtown Asheville.

Image Source:
Kristen Baumlier
Links:

http://doubledscoffee.com/

Getting Better and Better – An Update from Food Font Development

Posted on March 11, 2013March 24, 2013 by Kbaumlier

The Food Font design is continuing and getting better! The interface design has evolved to have smaller icons on top, a resizable workspace, and no layer panel. The Food Font alphabet selector, background selector, and other tools have been created.

This weekend I am meeting with a colleague who does interface design and programming and we will work on the design document that outlines the mechanics, programming details, and overview of the tool.

The design goes on!