techno-gastrosof and ex-designer marti guixe, 1:1
article commisioned by the new york times magazine
photography inga knolke
Marti Guixe - techno-gastrosof, tapaist and "ex-designer" has a dilemma. One of the most original forces in design today, who has worked on prestigious projects for Spain's Camper shoe company (New York's SoHo store, London, Milan and others), Dutch firm Droog Design and as a contributor to the New York Museum of Modern Art Workspheres exhibit, has come to a surprising, and possibly career-threatening conclusion, declaring "I hate objects".
In the context of a speech to the design world cognescenti last June at the International Design Conference in Aspen, Colorado, Barcelona and Berlin-based Guixe's words border on blasphemy. As the final speaker in a list of top designers who have created much of our iconic furniture, graphic design and architecture, Guixe attempts to put things into perspective. "I have considered that I will buy perhaps two chairs in my lifetime, but I buy food three times a day". While many designers strive to come up with yet another great new chair or ever more stylish cell phone, Guixe believes that the most compelling, and neglected area of design is food.
Guixe maintains that most food is nostalgic and kitschy, not appropriate for the contemporary age. French fries and potato chips pretend they are made by hand and expensive restaurants typically engage in intensive time-consuming craftsmanship which is the equivalent of building construction without modern machinery. Food is one area which has been largely untouched by modernity and Modernism. According to Guixe, "modern food should be eaten without plates and utensils, taste good and be natural, healthy and fun to eat or with some new experience."
1. Branded Food - Rather than argue in vain for an end to advertising, this unconventional but pragmatic designer suggests that we can feed the world and meet the needs of global corporations' advertising at the same time - by only slightly altering the status quo. Guixe subtly and humorously suggests that we redirect the enormous advertising revenues to a more useful purpose. Foods such as Calvin Klein frittatas and IBM beans would be free as a result.
2. Techno-tapas - The last great food design is sushi which was designed in part so that people would not have to stop playing cards to eat. Techno-tapas are designed for easy consumption while working on a computer.
3. Tapas karaoke - Traditional kitchens will disappear in the future, to become general hobby rooms as cooking is increasingly modernized. Guixe's 'tapas karaoke' combines kitchen counter-top, cook book and entertainment as home cooks follow the bouncing ball to prepare the latest techno-tapas recipes.
4. I-Cake - The natural progression of ingredient listings and a less traditional approach to food aesthetics. I-food declares its ingredients in visual form - decoration becomes information.
5. Chupa-Chups - Solving the eternal question of what to do with a half finished sucker, Guixe has designed a three-prong stand-up version for Chupa-Chups. Taking sucker innovation a step further, Guixe decided to insert an orange seed inside an orange flavored candy. After the sucker is done, the seed is planted and the sticks are used for support of the new orange plant.
6. Pharma-food - A system of eating through breathing. We are constantly ingesting microparticles that are suspended in the air we breathe, such as the dust in our home. Pharma-food converts this into a new form of nourishment by spraying food particles into a controlled area. We inhale the particles which then combine with saliva to travel to our stomachs.
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