Kitchen Studio | Elizabeth Willing
Image supplied by BrisFest
The entrance to Kitchen Studio had us navigate through a winding path curtained by plush pink fabric printed with patterns that looked like little germs or other shapes you might see under a microscope. The visual motifies of organs continued as we came into the main space which had a pink neon tube twisting into a long scrunched up shape above our heads and a semi circular pink seat made up of long curved and squashed lines.
The audience was only 9 people and sitting together in such a small intimate group was a little intimidating and immediately put me in mind of restaurant movies like The Menu. The person sitting next to me struck up a conversation by asking if I thought we were going to be sacrificed at the end of the performance. Not knowing what we were getting into was exciting and the event officially kicked off with the performers/wait staff walking out and silently pulling back the curtains to reveal a television which played a looping 3d animation of a small pink sweet potato looking object bouncing around like an old screen saver.
The event continued with the same puzzling tone. It was split into five courses and the video continued with looping animations themed around each course while the waiters slowly made their way in and out of the room, carrying small trays and sculptural objects with little bites of food or drink.
It took a while to get into a rhythm with the performance. Fine dining and performance art are similar in that it can feel like there are expectations of the audience that aren’t clear. I felt almost anxious looking around for the performers or wondering how long it would be until the next course or watching another audience member awkwardly reach out to take a piece of food, then put it back when the waiter didn’t move on to the next person, before working out they were supposed to take the whole plate and go bright red. A good laugh broke the tension but it did feel like maybe we were doing it wrong the whole time.
Image supplied by BrisFest
Rather than deconstructing dining it seemed to me like a cartoon version of the fanciest restaurant you could imagine, with beautiful but uncomfortable furniture and inscrutable waiters. I thought the pacing really contributed to this feeling of tension, some of the gaps between courses felt too short and others far too long and it meant I wasn’t sure whether to focus on eating or drinking before the plates were taken away or focus on the video, sound or performers.
The food itself was really fun and I enjoyed the way that the whole experience made you focus on detail in the textures and the ingredients in what you were eating. Before the show we had been able to see into a window where some of the ingredients were set up and it made me wish that we were able to see more of the making process as a part of the performance. Elizabeth Willing blended sculpture and food in a way that meant visually the two were almost indistinguishable. It also meant that as well as focusing on the food, I was also drawn to the tactile feeling of the plates, menus and tables. Everything was made of soft organic shapes and interesting materials and I enjoyed myself the most when we had something to touch or play with like the beeswax capsule that contained a mocktail.
I had no idea what to expect coming into Kitchen Studio and I wasn’t quite sure what I had seen after I left either. The centre of this experience, the food, was perfect and I loved seeing it blended with another artistic practice like sculpture. It felt imaginative and speculative in a way I found inspiring but I also found it difficult to disengage from my expectations around fine-dining and embrace the sense of play that I think the work was trying to encourage.
Catch ‘Kitchen Studio’ at Metro Arts between 31 August and 26 October as a part of the 2024 Brisbane Festival.
