“When I moved to Montreal in 1998, I was surprised to see how many sushi takeouts there were around the Plateau area, most of them run by non-Japanese; it was a bit of culture-shock for me within the same city. Then in 2008 I documented twenty-seven sushi shops all within a thirty-minute walking distance from my apartment. This was sort of the core inspiration of this Montreal-specific project,” so tells us Shie Kasai as she takes a break to talk more about her Survival Cooking Project.
“My background is in sculpture and I always like to deal with materials. I also like cooking and eating so with this project, instead of going to a hardware store or junk yard, I decided to go to the local supermarkets and to make food that was comforting to me. It’s important especially being in a foreign country where you could have an upset stomach. When I was offered a residency opportunity in Rotterdam from Canadian artist Yvette Porter, and thinking what to propose, I literally took the word “camping” and asked myself, what would I do at a campsite? I’d probably have to look and hunt for something locally available and prepare it myself with limited equipment. In deciding what’s local and not, Yvette and her Dutch partner gave me good ideas in determining ingredient choices for this week-long, first Survival Cooking Series. It was about documenting personal experiences going to groceries and attempting to cook simple Japanese-like meals, and recording recipes.”
After the Rotterdam residency, how did Montreal fit in as a site-specific territory?
“The project in Montreal was shaped differently because I was offered a huge space to create an installation based on a similar concept. Deciding how to use the given space also gave this project a framework and helped me develop ideas and productions, resulting in a multi-media installation which consisted of photos, videos, sculptures and a workshop area; a bit more than just a record of a personal cross-cultural cooking log. I mean, I like eating and cooking but I don’t consider myself an artist specialized in food art however using food as materials was one convenient choice, especially nowadays, having a studio could cost you a fortune.”
How did you go about getting started?
“To proceed with the project, first I had to define some ideas about Canadian and more specifically, Montreal food. I decided to have a survey in the hope of knowing everybody’s eating habits so that I could incorporate that into my cooking. The whole production is based on the survey results collected from 154 Montrealers, the results of which are attached into the resulting cookbook.
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