Ecosystem: Digesting the Landscape

Categoría

Collaboration with Alicia Monreal Ortega, Inês Coelho, Carolyn, Arran, Bea, Isabel and the neighbours of Monfero. Experiments develop during a residency hosted by the association Rural Contemporánea, in the context of the project "SEEDS. Means for a sustainable art practice".

Photo by Alicia Monreal
Photo by Alicia Monreal

Dandelion, lettuce, turnip greens, thyme, daisies, rocket, marigold flower, plantago, mint, wheat flour, apple, onion, Galician tetilla cheese, oil, chickpeas, lichen, amaranth flour, onion, garlic, summer preserved tomatoes, fermented lemon, yellow chilli, dried wild mushroom broth, parsley, red wine, salt, potatoes, thyme, nasturtium roots, beer, amasaki, oranges, lemons, sugar, butter, corn flour, dandelion root «coffee», liquors from various harvested plants. Napkins of celandine and chlorophyll. Performance, spell, bread amulets.

«On Saturday 16 March, the residents of Monfero sit down to eat the experiments developed by the artists during the previous week, investigating which parts of the landscape can be edible, can dye fabrics with colours, can be the subject of games and performances. The meal begins with a ritual in which each of the diners chooses one of the bread amulets placed on the table, a spell is recited, and the amulet becomes part of the person who has eaten it. The meal then opens with the starters: green pierogi with nettles, apple, onion and cheese, mint falafel and Galician grelos, topped with fried lichen and tahini mayonnaise. Beer brewed by Arran and the researchers last week is drunk. For the main course, there is a vegetarian Vivaldi Stew, devised by Carolyn, which includes the four seasons, and baked potatoes, as well as a lacón prepared by Isabel. For dessert, we have dandelion coffee, and three different tarts of orange, lemon, olive oil and thyme, served with amasaki. Finally, there is a tasting of liqueurs made by Bea. An exploration of the collected materials, of fermented flavours, in full collaboration and enjoyment.» – Alicia Monreal Ortega

Photo by Alicia Monreal
Photo by Alicia Monreal
Photo by Alicia Monreal
Photo by Alicia Monreal

A la tierra y las manos que la cuidan

a las lombrices que bailan al ritmo de la descomposición

A dejar que las cosas se pudran

que los hongos tiñan de azul el bosque

y los liquenes vistan los árboles

Jinetas, zorros y ciervos

petirrojos, picapinos y jilgueros

las abejas que quedan y las que marcharon

vecinos, vecinas, vecines, 

que dejan caldo calentito 

en la puerta de su amigue

Raiz de diente de león, 

fermento de malta

queso de tetilla

Polvo de pimiento que viene de la china

Servilletas de celidonia y clorofila

Remolacha, ortigas y harina

hagase este amuleto parte de tu sistema digestivo

para con ello vecinas

saborear la buena vida

To the earth and the hands that care for it

To the earthworms that dance to the rhythm of decomposition

To letting things rot

to letting fungi stain the forest blue

and lichens dress the trees

 

genets, foxes and deers

robins, woodpeckers and goldfinches

the bees that remain and those that have left

neighbours, neighbours, neighbours

who leave warm broth

at your friend’s door

 

Dandelion root,

malt ferment

tetilla cheese

Pepper powder from China

 

Napkins of Celandine and clorophile

Beetroot, nettles and flour

make this amulet part of your digestive system

so that with it neighbours

we can taste the good life