It's no mystery that in NYC, as soon as an "upmarket" Korean bodega opens in the neighborhood, your rent skyrockets. Gentrification can pretty much be summed up as, artists move in, the demand for kale chips and coconut water rises, and rent prices follow suit.
Of course, being that this is New York, it was only time before someone would turn this notion into art. Since December, Interstate Project's Sing's Millenium Mart, described on its site as "the corner deli of the future," has been on view in Bushwick. The setting is surreal—artfully curated gallery walls are "stocked" with Hershey bars, Raver Saver glitter, kimchi kale chips, and gingko pills, while a wall of edible plants is meant to resemble a sustainable salad bar. Stacks of metallic blue water bottles with the Detroit Tigers baseball team insignia, filled with imported Michigan tap water, sit in the center of the room, and along the audience bleacher seats are small, concrete sculptures of potatoes and Slurpees.
And the bleachers get filled. A handful of evening performances have taken place with various artists, meant to highlight what a post-apocalyptic deli might look like, and the emotions it could arouse. Opening Ceremony caught up with the show's curator Seung-Min Lee before this weekend's last show.
CECILIA SALAMA: Why did you decide to put this all together?
SEUNG-MIN LEE: Have you even been to the second floor of the Whole Foods on the Bowery? Have you ever noticed the atrium stage area with beautiful poured concrete seats for "performances"? When you buy upscale food, there is always the potential that you are consuming culture at the same time. I wanted to turn that on its head.
Tell me about the salad wall.
That is a collaborative piece between Simone Frazier and myself called the “Vertical Hydroponic Living Salad Garden.” It mimics the tossed salad bar in a bodega, but it’s completely sustainable. All the lettuce is locally sourced within three blocks of the gallery. It’s really awesome to have my own food source in the dead of winter!
And the Detroit Tigers water bottle pyramind? Tell us about that.
The piece is called, "Like Water For Water." You can purchase the bottles, and proceeds will go towards the Detroit Water Project. It takes five gallons of water to flush a toilet in NYC, and the idea was to get five gallons of tap water from Detroit to create usable value for the people who are in danger of having their water shut off.
What are your go-to hangover cure bodega items?
A kombucha, tofu, gum, chapstick, and an $8 bag of kale chips (which I only allow myself to buy once a year because I refuse to pay eight dollars for what used to be a worthless weed).
Can you tell me about the last performance on Saturday, the 31?
The last performance will be a survey done by artists. There will be performance involving some sort of shanti-cleansing hut, and Amanda Cohan, who measures human exhalations, will then translate these breathes into recipes.
Sing’s Millenium Mart is open until February 1. The last performance will be on January 31 from 5-8 PM.
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Of course, being that this is New York, it was only time before someone would turn this notion into art. Since December, Interstate Project's Sing's Millenium Mart, described on its site as "the corner deli of the future," has been on view in Bushwick. The setting is surreal—artfully curated gallery walls are "stocked" with Hershey bars, Raver Saver glitter, kimchi kale chips, and gingko pills, while a wall of edible plants is meant to resemble a sustainable salad bar. Stacks of metallic blue water bottles with the Detroit Tigers baseball team insignia, filled with imported Michigan tap water, sit in the center of the room, and along the audience bleacher seats are small, concrete sculptures of potatoes and Slurpees.
And the bleachers get filled. A handful of evening performances have taken place with various artists, meant to highlight what a post-apocalyptic deli might look like, and the emotions it could arouse. Opening Ceremony caught up with the show's curator Seung-Min Lee before this weekend's last show.
CECILIA SALAMA: Why did you decide to put this all together?
SEUNG-MIN LEE: Have you even been to the second floor of the Whole Foods on the Bowery? Have you ever noticed the atrium stage area with beautiful poured concrete seats for "performances"? When you buy upscale food, there is always the potential that you are consuming culture at the same time. I wanted to turn that on its head.
Tell me about the salad wall.
That is a collaborative piece between Simone Frazier and myself called the “Vertical Hydroponic Living Salad Garden.” It mimics the tossed salad bar in a bodega, but it’s completely sustainable. All the lettuce is locally sourced within three blocks of the gallery. It’s really awesome to have my own food source in the dead of winter!
And the Detroit Tigers water bottle pyramind? Tell us about that.
The piece is called, "Like Water For Water." You can purchase the bottles, and proceeds will go towards the Detroit Water Project. It takes five gallons of water to flush a toilet in NYC, and the idea was to get five gallons of tap water from Detroit to create usable value for the people who are in danger of having their water shut off.
What are your go-to hangover cure bodega items?
A kombucha, tofu, gum, chapstick, and an $8 bag of kale chips (which I only allow myself to buy once a year because I refuse to pay eight dollars for what used to be a worthless weed).
Can you tell me about the last performance on Saturday, the 31?
The last performance will be a survey done by artists. There will be performance involving some sort of shanti-cleansing hut, and Amanda Cohan, who measures human exhalations, will then translate these breathes into recipes.
Sing’s Millenium Mart is open until February 1. The last performance will be on January 31 from 5-8 PM.
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