A taste of big data on the global dinner table

Markéta Dolejšová

This exposition discusses artistic appropriations of issues related to the contemporary global food agenda and the possible impact of these interventions on the public’s food-related mindset. It begins with an overview of some of the most pressing concerns about the current state of global food production and continues by discussing how these concerns are affected by social networking technologies and online collaborations. Social initiatives and food activists, as well as artists and designers, have become interested in communal bottom-up efforts to refine the global flow of food commodities. The second chapter of this exposition discusses recent examples of contemporary food art/design works. Beside a theoretical overview, the author presents her own food art/design project ‘HotKarot & OpenSauce’ and offers an insight into the field from the perspective of a researcher-as-practitioner. The exposition aims to raise important questions about the potential of participatory art/design initiatives and critically address current global food issues, hence supporting consumers’ general awareness of what ends up on their plates, how it gets there, and under what circumstances.

A taste of big data on the global dinner table

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Image credits

1. Visitors’ food (2012). Picture copyright © 1983 Československá televize. Online image retrieved from http://www.ahaonline.cz/clanek/zhave-drby/81531/vip-prostreno-ochutnejte-amarouny-dady-patrasove.html.

5. Nutrigenomic dieters (2015). Copyright © 2015 Cult of Nutrition • Food and Marketing Thoughts. Online image retrieved from http://www.cultofnutrition.com/2014/09/personalised-nutrition-nutrigenomics-re.html.

6. Orthorexia nervosa (2015). Copyright © 2015 Gigaom, Inc. Online image retrieved from http://gigaom.com/2013/10/18/health-data-hacktivist-turns-to-the-crowd-to-build-an-open-source-database-for-food/.

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