Back in January, in the dead of winter, artist Tiffany Jaeyeon Shin began cultivating new life near the Brooklyn Navy Yard. As part of her “Session” — a uniquely process-based and public-facing residency — Shin turned the central space of the artist-centered nonprofit Recess into a thriving indoor garden and fermentation room. Throughout her nearly two-month-long residency, she linked the microbial and societal, analyzing the inner workings of the gut as a means of probing the treatment of immigrant health amid immigration systems that call for complete assimilation.
Taking a decolonial approach to wellness and care-taking, Shin spent her residency home-brewing lactic acid (to encourage plant growth and germination), drawing upon the traditions of grassroots Korean farming group JADAM, which advocates for low-cost, equitable, and environmentally sustainable farming practices. It feels fitting that Shin’s project, “Microbial Speculation of Our Gut Feelings,” culminated in an intimate homemade microbial dinner, in partnership with the queer culinary collective Spiral Theory Test Kitchen.
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This Thursday (April 2), Shin will rejoin the team at Recess to host an afternoon workshop similarly focused on restorative practices, vis-a-vis the gut. For the nonprofit’s first virtual program, she’ll be hosting an ASMR-style tutorial on making water kimchi (dongchimi) — a refreshing, fermented Korean snack made with radishes, which helps boost the immune system. (Think lots of fun bubbling and crunching sounds.)
At a time when many of us are being especially mindful of our health, Shin’s tutorial offers a fun and free opportunity to learn a bit more about natural ways to boost our bodies’ defense systems; or, if you’re feeling less culinarily inclined, an opportunity to sit back and listen to the pleasurable sounds of nutrients at work.
When: Thursday, April 2 at 12pm (EST)
Where: Online, via Zoom
See Recess’s Instagram page for more details and a full list of ingredients needed.
Source: Hyperallergic.com