Peel, cut & bake apple pies
A McMaster University PhD candidate is inviting members of the Sault Ste. Marie community to participate in an artwork as part of her dissertation research. Artist-researcher Kathryn Huckson is working towards her PhD in Communication, New Media, and Cultural Studies at McMaster University. Her project looks at the ways artists use participation, food, and eating together in and as artwork.
Participants are welcomed to the Sault Ste. Marie Museum on Saturday, Dec. 14 from 1-4 p.m. Here you will meet Kathryn and join her in processing a bushel of apples she picked locally at sites around the city. The event, framed as a participatory artwork, will last around three hours in total.
There is room for up to 15 participants and spaces are first-come, first-served. People with allergies to oats, gluten, wheat flours, eggs, apples, lard, oil, sugars, or cinnamon are not recommended to participate.
Huckson will guide participants through preparing the locally picked apples and baking them into pies, crisps, and muffins. Participants will be welcome to take home any baked goods they make to eat or to give as a gift. As lead artist and hostess, Huckson will share stories about apples, her great grandfather’s orchard at Huckson’s corner, her grandfather cutting and sharing apples after dinners, and making pies with her mother. She will also ask participants for any memories or stories they want to share about picking, baking with, and eating apples.
Participation in this artwork is voluntary and there are no explicit benefits to participants aside from the company, sharing stories and recipes, and enjoying free baked goods.
Participants will be photographed and must sign a consent waiver before the artwork begins. Photographs from the artwork will be shared on Huckson’s artist website and in her dissertation publication. You may leave/withdraw your participation at any time during the artwork. Participation is free, and is limited to folks over 18 years old and who have English literacy.
There are some minimal risks involved in participating in the project such as allergic reaction to the foods consumed, or injury/accident while preparing food. Participants do not need to participate in cooking/preparing foods if they are uncomfortable with the tools we are using or worried about a potential allergy.
Huckson became interested in participatory art after experimenting with performance art during her Masters. Participatory approaches are a growing trend in contemporary art and encompass any artmaking that involves social interaction as the artwork. Approaches and terms like relational aesthetics, socially engaged art, community-engaged art, and interactive art all fall under the umbrella of participatory art. Usually, participatory artworks emphasize the experience of social interaction as equally or more important than making an art object, like a painting or sculpture.
Any questions about the artwork can be directed to [email protected].
If you have any food allergies, please let me know. Allergies to gluten, wheat flour, oats, eggs, apples, lard, oil, sugars, or cinnamon would make it unsafe for you to participate. Do not participate if you are allergic to or if you cannot eat or handle these foods.
You can see some of Huckson’s artwork, including similar food-related participatory projects at http://katiehuckson.com.
This study has been reviewed by and received ethics clearance from the McMaster Research Ethics Board (#6985).