Visi – August 2019

A fierycollaborationandbespokedinner

seestwoleadingCapeTownartistspay

homageto man’sprimordial connection

with tools and wild food.

t’s purealchemy:a fusionof dark,cavernous

spaces,immersivesounds,herbalsmoke,sparks

andlayeredaromas.Artist-blacksmithConrad

HicksandfoodartistCaroJesserecentlycurated

an eveningof historyandhighdramaat thetriple-volume

forgeat theBijouin Observatory.Thepairsharea common

fascinationwiththefeedbackloopof evolutionandtools.

“Prehistorictoolswerethefirstevidencethatearlyhumans

hadbegunto thinkof themselvesas separatefromthe

worldaroundthem,”Conradsays.“Theearliesthumanshad

to imaginean objectin orderto createit, so tool-making

developedtheirabilityto thinksymbolically.Thatwasthe

realgame-changerin humankind’sevolution.”Carois equally

transfixedby wildfoodsthatweregatheredovermillennia

andfeelsourconnectionto themis writtenin ourDNA.

To set thetonefor theevening,CaroperformedPetrichor

(meaningthesmellof rain),an intimatesensoryperformance

thatincorporatesfilm,sound,rain,honey,earthandfire

to explorehumans’survivalinstinctsandreconnection

withnature.Themeal– usingingredients,implementsand

utensilsthathighlightedthecouple’sjointresearchintothe

inter-relationshipof foodand tools – was an atmospheric

journeythroughhistory.

Thinkbonemarrowservedon a tablecoveredin sun-

bleachedanimalbones,calamarion fossilisedsquidbeds,

and sceletium-infused mushrooms cooked on hot copper.

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155 visi.co.zaAUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019