LifeSpans:
Recipes for Kitchen & Studio
Edible Nest Studio/OaCaryeHallstein
Let's Dig In...
Lifespans is an ongoing interactive project exploring edible and artistic materials in form and function.
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What is the LifeSpans project?
"Taste of Strawberry 1" OaCH 2022
Each of these forms expresses a different element of the sensorial experience that I have had with these materials:
The rendered digital illustrations represent deep observation and care related to the literal physical material involved in the mentioned process.
Similarly, photographs serve both as a literal prepared representation using said material to serve both aesthetic and pragmatic purposes.
Cartoons anthropomorphize the materials, expanding them into a more dynamic context of both humor and placing the materials into a space beyond usage as a tool.
The abstract images, in contrast, are representations of the experience of tasting texture and flavor of the material; this is meant both literally and metaphorically relative to the safe edibility of the material.
In other words, abstraction in this project accentuates the properties most prominent in the material at hand.
Recipes and activities dive into the varied function and usage of the tool.
Lastly, the essays themselves bind this shared sensorial experiment within memory and context: bridging the divide between physical environment and experienced environment to create an interlocked virtual space for material exploration.
Research-based poetic essays combine with practical recipes to both inform, honor and inspire a deeper exploration of everyday objects and tools.
What to expect…
"Oranges: Jewels Still life" Olivia Carye Hallstein 2022
"Taste of Orange 1" Olivia Carye Hallstein 2022
The project will be uploaded chapter by chapter:
Each chapter will reference one material (ex. Strawberries or Charcoal) and contain both reflective representations (essays and images) and options for deeper exploration (activities or recipes). This will be conducive to my personal learning and expansion on materials as an artist.
I hope that this project may also be used as an educational tool or to inspire others to find magic in everyday objects. These chapters will be grouped according to categories such as “Fruits & Berries”, “Natural Dyes”, “Buds & Petals”, or “Drawing Tools”, etc.
Though the formatting will be similar between all chapters, there will also be variation reflecting the individual needs and emphasis in each chapter or category.
This may or may not happen in order.
This may or may not happen at regular intervals.
This will be continual.
It will become a living space of expressive opportunity.
It will parallel my own life and gain a Lifespan of its own.
It will stand in honor and quiet restitution of the complexity of seemingly simple objects that surround me.
In this way, I hope it will inspire other makers and interested parties to take time and care and pay attention.
Text is paired with four forms of visual expression of these materials: rendered digital illustration, photography, cartoon and abstraction.
Why?
"Kiwis: Ready to Rumble" Olivia Carye Hallstein 2021
When the pandemic hit, the simple, irreplaceable objects that filled my days gained an increased importance. This inspired me to start paying closer attention and the more attention I paid, the more this incredible interwoven world began to reveal itself.
Suddenly, I have found myself staring in amazement at mundane objects and tools the same way I stood in wonderment at masterpieces at museums. It has added to my life expansively in both depth of knowledge and spirit.
I want to share that and make myself accountable to continuing the practice into my unknown future.
Learning to slow down has been the most difficult and important lesson in my life so far.
Influences…
"Pink Lady Apple: Still Life" Olivia Carye Hallstein 2021
This is my response to several movements that I am inspired by like:
slow food,
historical materialism,
DaDa,
critical theory,
circular economy,
and the expansion of representation in academia.
My goal is to integrate similar methods into my art making and reflections.
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I will do this by emphasizing diverse histories, based in facts and as specific as possible to localities.
By taking a global perspective and basing my expressions in social, economic and environmental context as much as reasonably possible, I hope to contribute to the aspirations of these movements.
Lifespans will be a public meditation on the awe to be found in the mundane and day to day.
"Taste of Coconut Water" Olivia Carye Hallstein 2021
