fasting!
fasting is the opposite of feasting. put together, fasting and feasting form a unity. Without hunger we cannot feast, regardless of what’s on the table. This is as it is with music. without silence there can be no sound. by cooking it is the same: one can prepare rock, classical, pop, folk music, etc…

someday I would kike to carry out the following action. with our cutlery in hand we go to the rear of a restaurant, where one finds the air-extraction system for the restaurant’s kitchen. sniffing the air that is being pumped out of the kitchen, we imagine what we would like to eat and enjoy the smells of our imaginary five-course menu. after the action the participants are to write a report detailing what it was that they had imagined eating, and describe how this imaginary meal was for them. Perhaps we can publish a new version of the “michelin guide”.

the “schmausen project” took place once again in schann, liechtenstein. for some reason i always find myself cooking japanese food. with increasing experience, however, the preparation and organisation for the “schmausen” are becoming less stressful. this time there were two single-pot dishes accompaåied by miso soup, rice, yokan, small delicacies, and “ko no mono”. though one of the single-pot dishes, “natto”, was not in a physical sense so large, its attendant psychological meaning had the potential to assume
considerable proportions. for those who don’t enjoy “natto” – it is something that, frankly, stinks. For those who like “Natto” however, it is
a dish that smells so good that it makes one’s mouth water. “n atto” is made with fermented Soya beans and served almost always with rice. One of
the participants had as a child visited Japan, and she recalled that at that time she had not enjoyed “natto”. Nonetheless, ten years after her
initial experience she tried “natto” again, and this time she exclaimed that “it tastes good!!” She even recommended it to another participant.
tastes really do change with time!

“i like it” – “i don’t like it” – these are phrases that i often hear when someone speaks about art. On the basis of the abovementioned example regarding taste, one can see that the terms “i like it” and “i don’t like it” do not form any basis for critique. it is quite simply a question of taste.

today we feasted in the workspace of my studio-colleagues. his workspace is located in the same room as mine. the atmosphere in his space is nonetheless quite different to that in mine. my space is lit solely by glaring neon light with an unpleasant colour temperature. thanks to the work of my studio-colleugues (they make lampshades), the light and the “schmausen” was particularly comfortable. their work can be seen both on the
table and behind it – as well as on the website (www.eigenmanndurot.ch). i had not seen the two participants of this “schmausen” for seven months. (photo: nina eigenmann)

after a two-month pause the “project 01 schamusen” is once again taking place. the basic concept of the “Banquet” remains the same, but i have decided that in the future, the project will sometimes be carried out in different places. this i name “part 2”. the first part of the project was with one exception always held in my studio. in january the “schmausen” was held in flechen, cologne. as another exception, rather than me cooking the food, as is usual, the participants cooked. here are the photos from 02.
jan. 2009. for five days with a minimum of two times per day we feasted and felt kingly. the fresh air and the warmth of the atmosphere made eating a superb experience. the participant is an artist.