By Joy Wong
wet like an open vowel sound
October 14 - November 26, 2022
by Joy Wong 黄祖欣
As a site of physical and metaphorical fermentation, wet like an open vowel sound is a project on the materiality of culture. In its microbiological sense, bacterial culture is what allows fermented foods to flourish, creating a lineage of symbiosis and care. Culture of a people is similarly codependent and influenced by events and places. Access to the first mother, or the original culture from the initial batch created, becomes both impossible and inherent in the procedure of fermentation. Attempts to trace a clear line of descendance can fail, although the lineage is responsible for the microbial colony's current state. This impossible site of origin allows reflections on nuances of motherlands and where generations of both human and nonhuman life can thrive. What are the biological and material limitations of accessing a matrix, a starter, a contaminated place of origin, a motherland?
“润·音”作为一个文化物质性的作品力求展现生物学意义上和隐喻修辞意义上的发酵概念。在微生物学意义上，细菌培养是使得发酵食品熟成并获得风味的原因，而每个培养的过程也创建出一个共生共存、相互关怀的生物谱系。人类文化的发展也存有这样的高度相互依赖性，并同样被偶发事件和环境地理因素影响。重新获取原初的单个“母菌”或者初始培养集落或许是不可能实现的，而先祖的影响仍会贯穿整个发酵的过程。虽然初始培养物繁衍生成的后代会决定微生物菌群现在的状态，但试图重构一个清晰的线性族谱不一定会成功。这种无法追寻的祖源让人们反思“家乡”的概念，以及人类和非人类生物后裔可繁衍的物理空间。在我们接触到一些基质、一种起始培养物、一个不可辨认的源头乃至家乡时，又有哪些生物和物质上的限制？
Gallery Hours: Thursday - Saturday 3-7pm
Programming
Kombucha and fermentation exchange workshop + artist talk
November 17, 2022.
Scadding Court Community Centre
This workshop facilitated by Joy Wong engages in mutual knowledge exchange with members of the local Chinese seniors community at SCCC by sharing fermentation practices and recipes. Wong demonstrates how to make kombucha and how to harvest and create SCOBY leather. Community members are invited to share their processes of fermenting foods such as mustard greens or rice beverages.
*Thank you to Wendy Yang and Scadding Court Community Centre for their generous collaboration