f.o.c.u.s (future origins of community & universal sustainability)
You are invited to the dinner table, but this is not a dinner party.
This is an invitation to be part of a transient community.
A conversation.
A journey of food, a sharing of stories, a connecting of dots.
Let me feed you. Let me nourish you.
F.O.C.U.S is a conceptual art project that takes place all over the world, inviting people to share in a dining and conversation experience that embodies social creative practice and sustainability.
In form, the dining experience uses traditional Japanese haute cuisine KAISEKI as it’s foundation. KAISEKI is a cooking art form that marries taste, texture, and appearance in a specific sequence of small dishes. Local and seasonal ingredients are showcased, with great importance placed on balance and dining experience. In order to create these events, Alisa spends time with local community prior to the dinner, liaising with indigenous communities where possible, and working directly with local producers to source ingredients.
An audience of nine guests are invited to the table, and the conversation is guided by the host, Alisa, who shares stories, poses questions, and invites responses from the diners.
This shared moment creates a community amongst those attending the dinner, a brief but intimate meeting of strangers, who may never meet again, but will always be connected. As F.O.C.U.S travels around various locations in the world, the connections extend again.
FOR THE LOVE OF LEFTOVERS
For The Love of Leftovers is the epilogue to F.O.C.U.S. In the interest of keeping a waste-free practice, Alisa cooks up the leftover ingredients from the F.O.C.U.S and hosts an open event for the local community. The event not only promotes sustainability and communal eating, Alisa shares information about the local producers she has met, helping to inform the community about what local and seasonal produce is readily available.
After each F.O.C.U.S dinner, a handmade, limited edition book is made. The book features writing and illustrations by Alisa collected from the event - recording the shared experience, as well the local ingredients researched and used to create the meal. Each one represents a chapter of the project - mapping out a new community across the globe.
You can find more information about the logistics of hosting a F.O.C.U.S event here
If you are interested in hosting a F.O.C.U.S dining event, please contact Alisa on alisatanakaking@gmail.com
PREVIOUS F.O.C.U.S LOCATIONS
Arctic: La Wayaka Current
Sørøya, Norway 2017
AARK
Korppoo, Finland 2017
Desert: La Wayaka Current
San Pedro de Atacama, Chile 2017
The Common Kitchen
Lancaster, UK 2018
The Wild Within
London, UK 2018