Meals of Convenience and the Inconveniently Timed Times
Nina Katchadourian's "The Genealogy of the Supermarket
We were excited when we first saw Amanda Hesser's latest "The Way We Eat" column in last week's New York Times Magazine. Not only did the column give a history lesson on one of our favorite topics - convenience foods- but it also pointed readers to an art exhibit in the Sara Meltzer Gallery in Chelsea. It's an installation by Nina Katchadourian that maps out the very important relationships between some of our favorite supermarket celebrities.
[From The New York Times Magazine]:
In Nina Katchadourian's world, the Jolly Green Giant is married to the Indian maiden on Land O' Lakes butter and Little Debbie is sister to the Charmin baby. Mr. Clean and the Brawny Man are now partners and have adopted the Gerber Baby. Katchadourian recently offered these revelations in ''The Genealogy of the Supermarket,'' her 30-foot-wide wall installation displaying an imaginative family tree of American grocery-store icons.
From what we could make out from the image printed in the Times, the family tree explained a lot. We couldn't wait to take a cakehead fieldtrip to get further dirt on these icons we love so much. Sadly, the out of office excursion was thwarted when we did a little investigating.
It turns out the show closed two weeks before Hesser's article ran. Of course, we at cakehead should have done a better job keeping our eyes on all activities related to cakes. And I know it's not Hesser's job to be responsible for our cakeheading social diary. But the Times is a news organization. In other words, they should have run Hesser's column when it still had some relevancy, i.e. when the exhibit was still open for viewing. We should have learned our lesson long ago. The Times should not be relied on for anything related to the world of emerging trends in the arts and culture landscape. But you'll be fine if you just stick to Hesser's recipe for Service Cake With Victory Icing. Cakehead promised to do a better job letting you know how to eat your cake and view it too.
For West-Coasters, there will be a chance to view Nina Katchadourian's work in 2006. "The Genealogy of the Supermarket and Other New Works" will be on display at the Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA. Check their website for exact exhibition dates.
Comments
This makes me want a Little Debbie cake
Posted by: Anonymous | July 13, 2005 01:54 AM