Sid the bus is buried under a few feet of snow (photos coming soon), but Nourish(meant) is already looking toward Spring.  During Earth Week, about the third week in April, I will be exhibiting work as part of the Nourish(meant) project in my thesis art show, and I’m hard at work preparing.  I’m currently laboring over a Nourish(meant) recipe book, which I felt is a gentler way to grow a movement than a manifesto.  The book will feature images from the summer’s trip, stories, quotes, instructions, diagrams, questions, and of course recipes!  If you have a recipe, or really any of these things, that you’d like to see included, please get in touch.  I’ll be using inkjet prints, different dyeing and lamination techniques, screenprints, and collage.  I’m hoping to make ten copies (an edition of ten, for you printmakers)- which may not sound like much, but it’s a lot of work!  I spent a good two hours today just tearing paper to the right size.

Also in the works are three events that Nourish(meant) will be hosting in the coming month with three different Charlottesville communities.  These food-meal-community-bus events will be documented, and with any luck I’ll make some prints that will go into some handmade frames on the wall.

Lauren and Mia, the two other women showing their work with me, and I are also collaborating on a Nest:  a reading corner, a shared space, among other things.

But first, getting the bus out of the snow.

This beautiful work of internet/food art has been sent to us by a number of friends- and we want to continue the sharing!  It’s a word-image piece by Maira Kalman, a designer and illustrator who notably illustrated the new version of Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style.  The piece is a lovely reflection on thanksgiving, our food system, and where the hope for our world may lie…

Ed, Chris and i arrived in Grand Rapids last night for Artprize.  If you have not yet checked out our profile, please do!  The journey from Charlottesville took us about 50 hours, about 15 of which were spent solving a fuel line leak.  The steal line coming from the injection pump going to the combustion chamber broke and started spewing fuel at an incredible rate.  Luckily, Chris, who was driving at the time, needed to switch out.  We pulled over, noticed smoke, noticed tons of fluid, killed the engine and ended up staying the night.

After large amounts of gasket maker, several rolls of electrical tape, and an extra 100 mile driving adventure that took us to Detroit, we aquired a new fuel line, which we estimate to be one of three to exist in America (the bus is an International.  Only one of 5 International parts dealers in Detroit, MI had this part).

We arrived in Grand Rapids around 8:30 pm.  Emily greeted us, cooking up some amazing fried green tomatoes given to us by our host and venue at Artprize: the Newberry Place Co-housing Community.  At Newberry Place, 60 people live in 20 units on 1 acre.  Everyone owns their own house and has privacy, while the land and common house are shared.  Cars are parked to the perimimeter, while people spend time in the center, between the houses.  Kids play together, neighbors share meals, and everyone seems to be very happy with the whole affair.  We are too, as we have been treated with the utmost hospitality, and find this community a blessing and nourishing at the same time.  Its a model for living in community designed in Denmark, one which has proved successful for over 20 years.  Check out more information about cohousing here!

Last night and today we drove downtown to show the bus at a more central location for Artprize.  Artprize is intense!  There are SO many people, so many cameras, and an incredible level of competition.  We should have expected this though, given that a $500,000 in prize money is to be given to artists.  The sights are amazing though, and we have met some truly wonderful people, including the Beerhorst family and the Wonderwagon.  We look forward to what the rest of the week brings.

Nourish(meant) has met wonderful reception, overall.  Response varies from interest to amazement, from liking to absolutely loving what we do.  We have enjoyed a number of fabulous conversations, met genuine people and recorded numerous responses to the central question of our project: “what does nourishment mean to you?”  We look forward to posting these responses on our website in the coming weeks.

Another update will come soon.  Thank you to everyone for their support!

This is the central question of the project.  We’re fascinated by what nourishes people-body, mind, and soul.  We’re going to be asking everyone we meet and compiling a manifesto from their responses.  Here are some we’ve already received:

From Hadley Perona:  “To me, nourishment is at once physical and emotional — it means being fed when I am hungry and have no food, because I only go hungry when I’m not able for one reason or another to feed myself. Whenever I am exhausted, broke, or distracted, someone always makes sure I get something to eat, and being cared for is maybe even nicer than the food.
Right now, I’m thinking of my dad making me a bowl of warm milk with rice and honey late at night. Even sweeter because he thinks he can’t cook, but he made me the Italian comfort food of his childhood. Try it, it’ll set you at ease if you’re not vegan.”

From Ian Meeks:  “Laughter and self reflection. Where time is isnt’ ’spent’ but used or even cherished with others and yourself. Though time to one’s self is needed, especially if you’re a social person. The time with other people is even more important, it’s where you are stretched yet soothed all in one. The stories shared, accomplishments realized, and downright laughter at mistakes that may be sore. Yet it’s all going to be alright.  It’s all going to be alright with friends.”

Check out our facebook page for more responses, and please post or email with your own response!

To sign off, a lovely poem about nourishment by Shaheen Ali:
There is nourishment like bread
that feeds one part of your life,
nourishment like light for another.

There are many rules about restraint
with the former, but only one rule
for the latter: Never be satisfied.

Eat and drink the soul substance
as a wick does with the oil it soaks in.
Give light to the company.

It goes against a lot of conventional thinking to conceive of Nourish(meant) as an art project.  I think by now some people are accustomed to the idea of performance art, but that’s just when some crazy artist walks around naked smearing blue paint on people, right?  Art isn’t supposed to do something practical! And it definitely shouldn’t have anything to do with feeding people.

Well, I beg to differ.  In fact, there are a lot of contemporary artists working in this field– you know, the field of art directly helping people.  Check out dominique gw mazeaud or Swoon.  Check out The Swimming Cities of Serenissima.  And definitely check out The Reenchantment of Art by Suzi Gablik.  All of these people are tired of working for hours on an impotent framed image in a gallery.

A few weeks ago, I was at a craft sale in The Garage (www.thegarage-cville.com) in downtown Charlottesville.  An artist (whose name I’ve forgotten, apologies) was giving out these stickers with tiny linocuts on them of a woman, her face totally covered in hair.  At the bottom of the print it said gentle graffiti.  Well, that’s how I conceive of Nourish(meant).  Graffiti is art that wants to be out there, engaged in the world.  It’s a public act of, yes defiance, but also of beauty.  There is a hard edge to it, though, issues of legality.  So gentle graffiti goes beyond that, perhaps even further into the world, directly nourishing people.