Archive for April, 2012

Xenobia Bailey: The Aesthetic of Funk

Fiber artist Xenobia Bailey makes crocheted hats that are anything but typical. Her hats are objects with odd shapes and forms, embellished with feathers and beads and luscious color combinations intricately woven into patterns that are outrageously beautiful one-of-kind hats. Her hats are eye grabbing. Each hat is a showstopper, and each wearer a performer turning passerbyers heads. On the streets people stop in awe of Xenobia’s hats curiously questioning. Where did you get that cool hat?

She’s embodies a modernist flair decked in stylish Mies Van der Rohe black round eyeglasses, her clothes crocheted in brilliant colors and patterns, and textures emotes what this prolific fiber artists calls, “funk.” As a fiber artist her hats are a blending of tactile textures, rich patterns and anthropomorphic shapes, seeing her hats I can’t help but think of the ebullient spices in New Orleans flavorful gumbo stew. She likens her aesthetic to the syncopated beats of funk music informed by African patterns found in textiles and architecture, and the rhythms of global music practices of call and response. She has BA in Industrial Design from Pratt Institute. Xenobia’s work links the symbiotic relationship between her design background and being a fiber-artist.

If you missed her exquisitely crocheted hats at the Global Africa Project held at Museum of Art and Design in 2010, then visit MAD.org for more information on her work. She’s represented by STUX gallery in NYC and listing on upcoming shows and more of her work can be found on Xenba.blogspot.com. Thinking of wearing an original Neo-Funky crocheted hat make sure to visit Xenobia Bailey’s Etsy shop. 

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Food for Thought

Truly Food for Thought

featured in the NYTIME, written By JAN ELLEN SPIEGEL
April 13, 2012

THE study of food has had a home in higher education for generations. Agriculture was a founding mission of the land-grant university system started in the 1860s. Nutrition programs are commonplace. Culinary schools were around long before Julia Child turned Le Cordon Bleu on its butter-sauced ear.

But in an era of widespread interest, if not downright concern, about how that ear of corn, destined for a pot of boiling water on a perfect summer evening is grown, processed, marketed, distributed and used — and what it means for health, commerce, the economy and even the ecological state of the planet — colleges and universities have come to realize that the classic food disciplines simply will not do anymore. For more read NYTIMES

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If you count yourself like most food loving New Yorkers who consider themselves aficandos of Food and Art, you’ll want to check out this year’s Umami Festival bustling with lots of fab happenings from films series, food events, and with a special, live addition of The Food Seen on Heritage Network Radio hosted by Michael Harlan Turkell, food writer and photographer. A unique, recently published book and CD project presents recipes by top chefs scored by Brooklyn based, indie rock band, One Ring Zero.  Lead by composer Michael Hearst, the band experimented with a variety of musical styles according to each chef’s vision. The lyrics were contributed by Mario Batali, Tom Collicio, and David Chang, among others.

In the spirit of the project, this event brings together live music, delicious food and drinks, and some personal reflections on both. This final component will be presented by food writer and photographer Michael Harlan Turkell, hosting a special addition of his talk show The Food Seen on Heritage Network Radio from Roulette.

Looking for more interesting foodie venues the Experimental Cuisine Collective takes place on Monday, April 23, from 6 to 8 p.m. at LightHouse Restaurant in Brooklyn: 145 Borinquen Place (corner of Keap). In their presentation, “Elemental: Shaping our Process for Culinary Evolution,” Robert Truitt (executive pastry chef of Altamarea Group) and Brian Sullivan (Ai Fiori) will walk the audience through their creative process by examining design-related theory, cognitive understanding as it pertains to the culinary world, and the influence on the creative process that business occasionally supersedes. Attendees will not only get a visual sense for some of their past works, but also a demonstration incorporating some of the processes and theories that guide their work.

 

 

 

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