SMOG TASTING: SMOG SYNTHESIZER, 2015

With Smog Tasting: Smog Synthesizer van The Center for Genomic Gastronomy en Nicola Twilley present an experimental food cart for simulating the smell and flavor of air pollution from various places and times. The installation builds on earlier smog-tasting work conducted by the artist-led think tank. In 2011, inspired by reading that an egg foam is 90-percent air in Harold McGee’s guide to culinary chemistry, On Food and Cooking, the Center used the structural properties of meringue batter to harvest air pollution in order to taste and compare smog from different locations. Inspired by this project, Edible Geography-author Nicola Twilley began to speculate about the concept of ‘aeroir’, and the idea that both urban and non-urban atmospheres capture a unique taste of place. She researched the history and technology of smog science, visiting the atmospheric process chambers at the Bourns College of Engineering, at the University of California, Riverside, in order to learn how scientists actually create synthetic smog in the lab. Working together, and with advice from Professor David Cocker and Mary Kacarab at UC Riverside, the Center and Edible Geography have designed and fabricated a small-scale smog chamber and developed a range of synthetic smog recipes for different cities around the globe at different points in time. These recipes are based on four types of smog, commonly used by atmospheric scientists to characterize air pollution: photochemical smog, biogenic photochemical smog, classic "Pea Souper" smog, and agricultural smog.

More info about de Smog Synthesizer
More info about smog merengues

The Center for Genomic Gastronomy (US/NO/IE) & Nicola Twilley (US/UK)

The Center for Genomic Gastronomy is an artist-led think tank, founded in 2010 by Zack Denfeld and Catherine Kramer. They examine biotechnologies and biodiversity of human food systems. In their practice, they map food controversies, prototype alternative culinary futures and imagine a more just, biodiverse and beautiful food system. Artist and designer Emma Conley is the Center for Genomic Gastronomy’s third core member and producer.

Nicola Twilley is a writer, artist, and curator, based in New York. She uses food as her primary lens through which to explore and reimagine human relationships with the built, cultural and natural environment. She is author of the blog Edible Geography, co-founder of the Foodprint Project, and director of Studio-X NYC, an urban futures network run by Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Preservation, and Planning.