PHILOSOPHY AND BRUNCH
ASTRID NOACKS ATELIER. COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, 2015
 

Towards the end of summer 2015 during Copenhagen Art week, we curated an event at Astrid Noacks Atelier. Set around the breakfast table, the event sought to promote discourse reflecting upon what was being eaten, and the process in which it came to be on the plate. Alongside brunch, we also created a space for reading, where people could browse various publications we gathered.

To accompany the event, which was attended by around 70 people, we created a handmade publication on a riso printer. This included several gleaned texts, recipe cards (including homemade anti-depressant schnapps) and an assortment of seeds for people to grow at home.

In the courtyard of Astrid Noacks Atelier at the beginning of summer, we fabricated a series of garden beds using a traditional Japanese wood preservation technique called Shou Sugi Ban. Some of the produce grown in the Shou Sugi Ban garden was harvested for the brunch.

The following text was written for Copenhagen Art Week 2015.

“Brunch.

That wonderful meal, sneaking in between breakfast and lunch. Oft enjoyed by those who didn't manage to get up in time for the earlier, unnecessary part of the morning.

We arise to the aromas of mid-morning delights: lush salted yellow eggs, laid by the neighbour’s chickens. Earthy mushrooms and sweet little tomatoes, grown from seeds gathered whilst walking in the Swedish countryside. All nestled, jumbled, perched a-top thick sliced, buttery toast, perhaps liberated from the local bakery’s dumpster. Accompanied by vibrant, crunchy salads and greens, grown in the atelier garden, picked by hand. A delicate, endearing relationship. To wash it down, some hot freshly brewed coffee or tea, herbal infusions of bean, leaf, sun and rain…and maybe even a shot of anti-depressant schnapps?

Don't forget about something to read, to muse; the day's newspapers of course, something to stimulate the conversation around the table as the coffee flows. Selected artist zines, pamphlets mystified by today’s world, recipe books and encyclopaedias of gardening knowledge. Set hearts and minds racing, with Philosophy and Brunch.
 

Philosophy and Brunch will be cooked by artists Thom O’Sullivan and Katherine Ball, with some ingredients grown in a new garden they constructed at Astrid Noacks Atelier. The artists invite you to enjoy a leisurely brunch in the garden with a cup of coffee and reading materials they’ve procured in Copenhagen and abroad. Philosophy and Brunch will materialize during Copenhagen Art Week, on 27 August from 11am.”