Eating grapes at the supermarket

Curated by Cristina Curcan

07 – 30 July 2022

Eating grapes in the supermarket is like ….

Is it like picking flowers from the park, or rather from someone’s garden? Is it like drinking water, even if warm, from the airport restroom? Or is it like chatting on social networks during working hours? 

 

But, is grape sampling, at the supermarket, socially acceptable? What about tasting another fruit before deciding if it’s good enough to purchase? How about walking on the street with no shirt on? How about walking on the street with a live sheep on your shoulders? How about taking a nap in an art exhibition?

 

Just a quick internet search and it is clear that these are controversial subjects. Possibly irrelevant on a personal note, until placed in a context where many sides of the story are socially acceptable, and picking a side is annoyingly necessary. Would you lose friends over apparently simple, harmless issues? 

 

Supermarkets and commercial centers are highly organized environments where everything is meticulously designed, labeled and shelved. They are well regulated and surveilled, so one would be naive to assume that sampling (consuming) grapes for example, goes unnoticed. It is expected to happen and tolerated as long as you purchase your way out of the supermarket. It is definitely not encouraged.  If taste related quality control would be a thing, we would only eat good products. 

 

The title is a pretext for a new conversation, maybe an artwork in itself, part of the thread of memories brought together by the artist. A collection of daily musings, within regular human existence, a documentation of personal encounters displayed carefully in the public eye, awaiting reactions. With very few clues of the historical position, or political context, nothing is too controversial, nothing is too personal, giving us a sense of belonging through a sample of our collective memories. Behind the impulse to record these experiences, one could notice an intention of the artist to better reflect on the subject, a way to investigate more deeply or from an ethical, moral, political or social point of view. Finding potential in some of the most mundane backgrounds and ways to harness ordinary moments, the public is encouraged to stare at a concrete wall while rain keeps pouring down and gradually shifting  its appearance, or to fixate on a plastic bag floating carelessly in a random pond. When was the last time you heard someone suggesting out loud “let’s observe that wall as rain washes over it!”

 

A multiplicity of forms archived in temporality, subjects exposing time based sensibilities, giving away the artist’s lifetime and location, through topics that become irrelevant in other circumstances.

 

The event is part of the project Collateral Endeavors, carried out by the Lateral ArtSpace in 2022. Cultural project co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration. The project does not necessarily represent the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the project results can be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the beneficiary of the funding.