Office Hours: Special Edition
Inside a Care of Chan Production: the approach, moodboard and inspiration behind a Prehistoric Cafe
Today, we have a special edition of Office Hours for you. We’re taking you behind the scenes of a recent Care of Chan production where we had an unusual and unexpected inquiry from the client…
“How would you create a prehistoric cafe?”
This was the question artist Anicka Yi asked us when we were tasked with crafting a culinary experience to support the unveiling of Message from the Mud, her sculptural exhibition that premiered at Storm King Arts Center in Upstate New York earlier this month. The installation, a collection of life-sized Winogradsky columns, are filled with soil and pond water baked under the sun over time to develop vibrant layers of organic matter. Set in a sunken crater to evoke an archaeological dig site, they form a collective monument to the interdependence of the foundations of life.
Anicka’s sculptures call upon a “Prehistoric biofiction,” reimagining Earth’s early history and life’s origins. The opening event required a culinary experience that expanded upon this mystical world of Anicka’s and Mother Nature’s collaborative making.
Enter me: Juliet, a Programming Manager here at Care of Chan. In plain words, I’m the ideas guy. We had the privilege of working closely with Storm King Arts Center and Anicka’s team to provide creative direction for the food and beverage portion of the opening event.
When we’re planning an event, the first thing we want to do is understand. Anicka had boiled her vision into one word: interdependence. I jumped into research. I wanted to know how some of the first humans might have gathered. I went to the Museum of Natural History and took pictures of bacteria. I dug deep into the whimsy and rigor of the artist’s catalog. This spread, which Anicka entitled “Before skeletons, before teeth,” became a feast as a meditation on origins including the following elements:
THE STONE ALTAR
I knew the feast needed to center around an altar. Phoebe Tran’s work immediately came to mind. Phoebe is a Vietnamese chef and artist with a practice rooted in ancestral memory, land, and lineage. Her hands can transform a table of food into something holy. I built the creative around this anchor.
SYMBIOTIC BAR DISPLAY
The bar display was intended to expand upon the science-like nature of the Winogradsky columns and the archaeological dig site. Tall beakers were filled with local natural elements, such as pond water and sediment, submerged flowers, and twigs and leaves. Jars of oozing, bubbling kombucha were also featured, showcasing the interdependence of live bacteria in action.
A MENU OF PLAY AND DISCOVERY
It was important to incorporate Anicka’s playfulness and curiosity into the final creative, which Upstate chef Leah Gaudagnoli brought to life. Candy was camouflaged as rocks, daring guests to take a bite. The art installation itself was mimicked by colorful Winogradsky Trifles.
In our initial conversations with the Anicka, she referenced the infamous “Pond” dish from El Bulli. Designed to look like a frozen, shimmering lake, it functioned as a palate cleanser. I reinterpreted this in the creative brief to create a pond water cocktail— murky and earthy.
It also felt essential to include a moment around fire—one of humanity’s earliest and most transformative discoveries. I couldn’t get this visual of a soup cauldron out of my head, with guests circling around for a taste.
This was easily one of my favorite projects to work on to date. We were asked to craft an event considering how we might have gathered in an imagined prehistoric time. In other words: What might an event have looked like before run-of-shows and floor plans existed? There was fire, there was food, and we gathered around it all. This feast called guests to consider what connects us to the earth, to one another, and to the living systems that made us possible in the first place.
Got questions about hosting, throwing events, or how we do what we do?
Big, small, wacky, or simple — send them our way at readytohost@careofchan.com.
It was a pleasure working with you all on this!