Collaborations

HalfAWoman

"HalfAWoman" is an artificial story, invented and "told" by Jacek Malinowski. It fits a documentary format. It is an interview with the woman who suffers from PDS (Pelvic Degeneration Syndrome) - causing the loss of the lower half of a body. The documentary convention is so convincing that the viewers believe it with no reservations. The question of showing the people so severely wounded erase. The doubts are being reduced by the character herself. When asked why she wants to be filmed, she answers: "because I am beautiful".

Jacek Malinowski's film is not a documentary, though. Rather a metaphor, a story of a human being who is not fulfilled in the whole, who exists in just 50%. The artist admits the fact of manipulation with viewers feelings (curiosity, fear, wonder, disgust or anger), focusing on shallowness of the certain areas of human sensibility. Then the crucial question emerging is: what are the consequences of the art work artificiality, when the truth ends up to be fiction.This is of course one of the work's many contexts.

Performance by Joan Fitzsimmons

http://jacekmalinowski.com/wideo-haw1.html
jacekmalinowski.com/wideo-haw2.html
jacekmalinowski.com/wideo-haw3.html

Oral History: A Recipe for Memory
recipe-memories.org

Oral History: Recipes-Memories is a collaborative project between Joan Fitzsimmons and Jeanne Criscola. It began as an artist' cookbook commissioned by Artspace, New Haven. The initial form was a boxed book of images, recipes, related stories and geolocation information, tracking the history of recipes and memories as they traversed their way from countries, cities, families & friends. This project also explores the technological evolution of the cookbook from the simplicity of clipped recipes in a cardboard box, to the prevalence of the internet. 

As in the making of art, a recipe is subject to change. The kitchen also evolves with new technology. Today we search and discover new food creations with a web browser. We may start with the name of a favorite dish, or seasonal ingredient, and measure what we find against the “formulas” we have embedded in our experience. This unbound collection explores the recipe as oral history, tracing personal histories through memory, geography, and technology, as they wended their way to a new home—a cross-pollination—via the gustatory, that reflects the cultural mix of our communities and country.

The book invites viewers to participate on multiple levels, rifling through the contents, perhaps searching for that perfect recipe. In doing one encounters QR codes that may be scanned to locate the origins and travels of the dishes along with accompanying stories and images.

You are also invited to be contributors to this ongoing project by uploading your recipes, images, and stories to our website www.recipe-memories.org