Food is Art is Food
Necklaces made out of sliced
carrots, sandwich bread-glasses, radish noses, garden cress-clothes, a ham-man, or edible plates made
of salty bread dough and seemingly real crockery made of sugar, which dissolve during use – for Marije
Vogelzang, the foundress of
Proef, an unusual food-design laboratory located in
Amsterdam and Rotterdam, design is a perpetual experiment. No food is safe from her. She uses all that
is edible to create objects of art, which are often organic, but most definitely always homemade by
her devoted chefs and always tasty.
But what is Proef? Proef is the tasting
and testing and handling of food without any boundaries. “I don’t just think about the food on the plate,
but everything relating to it,” explains Vogelzang. Atmosphere, sound, ingredients, color, texture and
scent are just as important in this as the edible ingredients themselves.
The
Proef team makes no secret of their ideas. They don’t have a hermetically closed-off “witch’s kitchen”
for the development and production of their design creations. In the cozy studio restaurant in Rotterdam,
whoever sits down at the long table – Proef’s oft-used trademark, again and again a central element
of their innovative food stagings – can witness how dishes for various events and happenings are prepared.
“Is
there even a plate?” Vogelzang asks. No, because here the food can only seldom be found on plates. Rather
it integrates itself into an artistic overall concept of space-art, into Vogelzang’s outlines and drawings,
music and people. Be it obsequies all in white, buffets with original dishes from World War II, or projects
designed to introduce children to healthy food, Proef most passionately dedicates itself to the task
of bringing all aspects of food design to life. Is it surprising then that Vogelzang is working on two
books and searching for new cooks?
Link:www.proefrotterdam.nl/proef_english/proef_en.html
