Inaugural Event Part of Idea Fund/Andy Warhol Foundation National Project
Artists Nestor Topchy and Robert
M. Rosenberg, performing
as Gastronanza, will host an interactive ar
t performance, Archetapas
Through \;Archetapas, Gastronanza wil l explore images, symbols, and characters from ancient prelingual \;tr adition, and create new language by introducing a gustatory element to for m.
Gastronanza will invite participants to enter their portable Gel atinearia, a welded steel \;chapel on wheels.
Once inside, ten
unique customized flavored shapes of vegetarian pâ\;té\;
d
e fruits gelatin, or Archetapas, will be available to sample. Upon ingesti
ng the Archetapas,
participants will be invited to match flavors to s
hapes from geometrical designs similar to thosefound in pysanky, the intri
cately patterned Easter eggs created in Ukraine and other eastern \;Eu
ropean countries.
Gastronanza intends to marry images, symbol
s, characters, and colors stemming from
pysanky tradition, in which a
story that predates phonetic language is articulated in the decorated&nbs
p\;egg&rsquo\;s designs and hues.
The event is a multi-sensor
y associative program that will introduce a gustatory element
to crea
te a total, edible work of art for public consumption and empirical inquir
y into the
universal experience of shape, color, and flavor, and to d
etermine its archetypal significance .
According to Mr. Topch
y, &ldquo\;What would be truly surprising would be to find that shape
does not evoke subject, that subject does not arouse color, and that colo
r does not suggest flavor.
Seeing that things have always found the
ir expression through a system of reciprocal analogy,
this may be a u
niversal, verifiable truth which transcends specific cultures.&rdquo\;
Mr. Rosenberg adds, &ldquo\;We are des igning and developing Archetapas as an edible corpus
and welcome the consensus of the general public for their discernment in establishing the colors \;and flavors most appropriate for each iconic geometrical shap e.&rdquo\;