Ampersand Aesthetics: Spatula&amp;Barcode’s Foodways Philippines

Laurie Beth Clark; Michael Peterson

doi:10.33303/gpsv6n1-2a132

Authors

Laurie Beth Clark University of Wisconsin-Madison
Michael Peterson University of Wisconsin-Madison

Keywords:

Hunger, hunger action, spatula&barcode, PSi, Philippines, social practice art, ethics, food, foodways

Abstract

This essay documents and reflects on a complex of social practice art actions addressing hunger that the authors, who work under the name Spatula&Barcode, undertook in the Philippines in 2022 in collaboration with Jazmin Llana. The article gives background on Spatula&Barcode’s prior work with food, art, and performance and their prior engagement with hunger as a theme, then describes several exploratory actions and two larger-scale community-based projects. The theoretical section takes up themes of agency, sovereignty, and hospitality as ethical concerns in both hunger action more broadly and in the possible role of artists in enhancing that work. The essay concludes with a discussion of the “lagniappe”—something extra, above and beyond the necessary—and the symbolism of the ampersand in the artists’ thinking about their work.

Author Biographies

Laurie Beth Clark, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Laurie Beth Clark is a Professor in the Art Department of the University of Wisconsin where she currently also directs the Center for Visual Cultures. Clark is an internationally recognized artist who has produced projects in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. With Michael Peterson, she is founder of the social practice arts collaborative Spatula&Barcode whose work is dedicated to commensality, conviviality, and criticality. Extensive documentation of her creative work can be found at https://www.lauriebethclark.art/. As a scholar, Clark has published essays in journals and anthologies on a range of topics in visual culture and performance studies, most extensively on trauma tourism.

Michael Peterson, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Michael Peterson is co-founder, with Laurie Beth Clark, of Spatula&Barcode, a social practice arts and scholarship collaborative, and Professor of Art and Interdisciplinary Theatre Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, where his teaching includes performance, cultural theory, gender studies, and visual culture.

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Ampersand Aesthetics: Spatula&Barcode’s Foodways Philippines

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Author Biographies

Laurie Beth Clark, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Michael Peterson, University of Wisconsin-Madison

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