Truffling
Okay, we can't imagine how this has slipped through the cracks, given that our friends at Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco's Mission District have been bugging us about it for weeks. We're just glad we've finally come to.
Seems Bay Area conceptual artist April Banks has been doing some traveling--to cacao farms in Ghana and Cuba and to the New York Board of Trade--and has come back with... chocolate. April's first solo exhibition, Free Chocolate traces cocoa's global journey from farmer, to trader, to chocolate lover. Along the way, her multilayered, multimedia installation traces the complex ways in which we participate in global economies.
The global movement of consumer products has been much in our sites lately. Remember that film about Ethiopia and the coffee issue? And how about the growing outrage over diamonds? Likewise, April is also dealing with how our personal cravings, desires, and indulgences carry global consequences. We're told the exhibition features, among other things, photography, custom chocolate bars, and a panel discussion on fair trade. Free Chocolate runs at Intersection for the Arts through February 17.
By the way, now that our consciousness is raised, we've decided not to demand our... ahem... gift box.
7 February 2007