The Common Table
Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia
The Common Table brought together a group of twenty-two women that share the physical space on the Wesleyan College campus. The building walls, division of majors, age, and many other factors can create a barrier that prevent students, faculty, and staff who enter the campus each day from ever encountering each other. This project aimed to encourage a diverse group of students, faculty, and staff to build community through a series of events and a shared meal that took place within the gallery that have resulted in this exhibition. An effort was made to select participants who did not already know each other well from different majors, organizations, and offices across campus.
On November 10, 2017, the group shared a meal together in the gallery. The dishes were handmade for the event and belong to the participants who first ate from them. They were designed to be reflective of campus and are covered with a pattern of the driving and walking paths on campus as well as shapes that reference the architectural archways. The ingredients used to create the meal were determined by an algorithm that used the food preferences and aversions of the participants. Each participant contributed twenty-two preferred foods and after eliminating any allergies or disliked foods the remaining list was used in the algorithm. Audio was recorded during the meal and played in the gallery throughout the course of the exhibition, which allowed visitors to imagine the meal taking place.
The Common Table was designed to help those participating and those who view it to reconsider the space that is shared, our relationship to that space, and with each other. Thank you to the many wonderful people at Wesleyan College and beyond that made this project possible.
On November 10, 2017, the group shared a meal together in the gallery. The dishes were handmade for the event and belong to the participants who first ate from them. They were designed to be reflective of campus and are covered with a pattern of the driving and walking paths on campus as well as shapes that reference the architectural archways. The ingredients used to create the meal were determined by an algorithm that used the food preferences and aversions of the participants. Each participant contributed twenty-two preferred foods and after eliminating any allergies or disliked foods the remaining list was used in the algorithm. Audio was recorded during the meal and played in the gallery throughout the course of the exhibition, which allowed visitors to imagine the meal taking place.
The Common Table was designed to help those participating and those who view it to reconsider the space that is shared, our relationship to that space, and with each other. Thank you to the many wonderful people at Wesleyan College and beyond that made this project possible.
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The menu:
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The book:
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