February 2013 – Page 2 – Kristen Baumlier

Month: February 2013

Love With Food: Eat Treats and Donate a Meal to a Hungry Child

Posted on February 15, 2013February 26, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Recently there have been lots of businesses popping up that are linking consumer purchasing to making a donation when purchasing something.

Love For Food is taking on the prevalent issue of hunger with a monthly membership of gourmet and nutritional products. Each month, The Love with Food Group puts together boxes of gourmet treats that you can buy, and proceeds from the purchase go to donate a meal to a hungry child.

To sign up, you donate $10 a month and get 8 or more gourmet foods that might include tea, olive oil, cookies, jelly, and other specialty foods. For each box you get – a meal is donated to a hungry child in the U.S.

From what I can see from pictures, the food in the box looks like items that would cost at least $5 a piece – so it is a deal for the purchaser and you also can help a child who is hungry.

To date, there have been 50,220 meals donated. I don’t eat a lot of specialty prepared foods – but I know of people that would love getting this box of food and also knowing that they are helping feed a child. You can check out more about Love For Food on their website, and also see more pictures of the food at lovewithfood.com.

Image Source:
lovewithfood.com

Links:

lovewithfood.com

Jimmy Kuenhle – Inflatable Wonderland Labyrinth of Joy

Posted on February 12, 2013February 12, 2013 by Kbaumlier

I recently was able to check out Jimmy Kuehnle’s piece, Inflatable Wonderland Labyrinth of Joy at the Sculpture Center in Cleveland, OH. Jimmy is an artist known for making inflatable wearable forms that he wears in public spaces, and I was interested to see what inflatable setup he had created for the Sculpture Center show.

When you find the space, which is in the Euclid Avenue Gallery, you are greeted by a sign that has both a warnings and welcome tone. “Beware of claustrophia. Watch your step. No horseplay. This product was made in a factory containing nylon. Have a great time.” I read this as “Have fun but not too much. This might be a tight and difficult space to get through. If you have a problem with nylon, do not enter. But maybe you should try it.”

Past the sign, the space is completely filled with an inflatable brightly colored “bouncy house” style structure that is made of what looks like puffy marshmallow cube shapes. You hear the loud noise of a blower, and if you dare – you can enter into a single crack between two of the cubes, to enter the work.

I pushed my way in, and found myself surrounded by color, the sound of a blower, and fabric that was quite some work to move to get through. As I continued to push my way through yellow, blue, and pink structures I became focused on finding the walls, and getting to the other side. The space was a bit tight at times, and the structure is not polite to let you by – you have to push.

I got through the piece, and reached the front of the gallery. I took a break, and pushed my way through again, this time going on the outer edge near the walls, which was harder to get through.

The piece is an interesting investigation of interaction, space, and perception. The scale, color, and labyrinth of shapes provide an interesting experience that when I think back – I mostly remember the bright color of the fabric, since at times that was all that I could see.

You can read more about his work, and also what he is up to this Winter at Spaces Gallery in the Spaces World Artist Program on his blog and website.

Links:

http://www.sculpturecenter.org/

http://www.jimmykuehnle.com/

Anti-Theft Lunch Bags

Posted on February 9, 2013February 12, 2013 by Kbaumlier

One day my friend told me about how someone was eating some of the carrots from his lunch that he stored in his work’s fridge. It was quite distressing to learn that this was why the carrots seemed to disappear so quickly.

If having your food stolen by coworkers or roommates is a problem, you can get the Anti-theft Lunch Bags designed by the design team called .the which provide a unique protection for your food.

The bags are sandwich bags that have green splotches printed on both sides, which makes your food look spoiled. The bags are reusable, food-safe, and recyable, and provide a rotten and unappeallig (a.k.a. gross) look to your food. Five percent of the purchase of the bags goes to Freedom from Hunger, a non-profit that helps provide food for those in need.

On the website where you can order the bags, a warning is written that says, “Use cauton in offices with overzealous fridge cleaners.” In my office, I have to say that this is not a problem. Someone’s Japanese Kupie mayonaisse has been sitting in the bag for over a year in the fridge, so the anti-theft bags I think would be safe.

Image Source:
http://www.thinkofthe.com

Links:

http://www.thinkofthe.com/product.php?name=anti-theft-lunch-bags#

http://www.thinkofthe.com

“Dinner, Not Art” – A Macaroni Art and Food Donation App

Posted on February 7, 2013February 12, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Today I downloaded and tried out the “Dinner, Not Art” iPad application made by Kraft foods where you can create digital macaroni art, and also donate noodles to those who need food. The app is promoted with the phrase, “Make macaroni masterpieces without wasting a noodle.” For each noodle you use in your piece, 10 real noodles are donated to the nonprofit Feeding America. As of today, according to the application, over 16,325,050 noodles have been donated to Feeding America, a non-profit that helps those who are hungry and in need of food.

After you download and open the application, you get to create a virtual piece of art by gluing virtual noodles, adding paint, erasing, and choosing a background You can then submit your piece to be chosen to be in the Dinner, Not Art gallery and on Facebook.

I created a simple piece on a red background and when I was done I named it, saved it, and posted it on my “virtual fridge.” By making the piece, I helped donate 50 noodles to Feeding America.

Want to make a macaroni piece? Check out the Youtube movie and application page to get started.

Image Source:
https://itunes.apple.com/app/id541385824

Links:

https://itunes.apple.com/app/id541385824

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SWgSUpkl2IQ

Baguette Tables: Tables made out of Upcycled Bread

Posted on February 5, 2013February 12, 2013 by Kbaumlier

All around us is food being thrown away. We can’t always see it, since it is often in dumpsters or bins, and located behind the restaurants and stores that we visit. The designers Tomek and Gosia Rygalik of Studio Rygalik decided to create tables out of bread that was thrown away, in order bring attention to the issue. Their Baguette Tables were made from stale baguettes that were meant to be thrown away. The baguettes are cut in half, and vary in size, creating an interesting form that looks kind of like a rock or natural form, until you figure out it is bread.

On their site the designers write “Food thrown away in Vienna could feed half of the population of Graz.” (Graz is the second largest city in Vienna.) The tables were part of a full bread experience at the Vienna Design Week Laboratory, where people bread dishes that were served on the bread tables.

Studio Rygalik is based in Warsaw and focuses on furniture, products, and experience design. You can read more about this and other projects on their site.

Image Source:

www.studiorygalik.com/baguette-tables–vienna-design-week/

Links: