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public_diet [2008-07-08 10:11] – katerichpublic_diet [2008-07-13 20:56] – katerich
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-**feasability study for sustained sustenance: feral trade cafe at http**  +**feasability study for sustained sustenance: installing a Feral Trade Cafe at HTTP gallery, London UK, for autumn/winter 2008. A platform to present feral trade goods and examine the protocols of refreshment service as accessory to the other communications by the gallery. The research emerges from an interest in the public diet of cultural organisations where foods for thought and consumption might align; and includes testing the regulatory limits and social expectations for a cafe, as well as preparing the resources, human and otherwise, required to run it. ** 
  
-===== HTTP structure, business plan, financial model ===== 
-   
-Umbrella company is Catlow & Garrett (unincorporated partnership). Tax entity, overheads & PAYE. 
  
-    HTTP and Furtherfield are not for profits with written constitutions. +Feral Trade http://feraltrade.org 
-    Furtherfield has an advisory board and is funded by ACE. +HTTP http://www.http.uk.net
-    HTTP is a furtherfield.org project. +
-    HTTP compound is zoned a s mixed / live-work.+
  
-===== CAFE MOTIVES, STRUCTURE & INFRASTRCTURE =====+===== CAFE motives, structure and infrastructure =====
    
-Motives for opening a cafe as an art project.+  * Motives for opening a cafe as an art project.
  
-    HTTP is located in the back of beyond from the point of view of its visitors. +Practical
-    Would like to give visitors to the exhibitions something more to chew on.      +
-    Sustenance and conviviality, space for contemplation and reading. +
-    Elongate visit.+
  
-    Useful service for local residents and studio occupants The neighbourhood is changing,  +1. HTTP is located in the back of beyond - a business park in the residential London borough of Haringey [[http://www.haringey.gov.uk]] - from the point of view of its public. A cafe would offer exhibition visitors something to chew on alongside the art: sustenance and conviviality, enriched space for contemplation, information and reading. 
-    it's a way of connecting with the local community that's more fluid and open, a softer     +Elongate visit.
-    interface than the gallery. More everyday.+
  
-    Promoting an alternate economy and ecology. So many shops deal with just money.+2. Additionally provide a service for local residents and studio occupants. A way of connecting with the local community that's more fluid and open, a softer and more everyday interface than the gallery. The neighbourhood is changing - cafe would be an interface to that. 
 + 
 +Conceptual  
 + 
 +    Demonstrate an alternate economy and ecology.
     Promote free processes and experiences other than those governed by hegemonic global      Promote free processes and experiences other than those governed by hegemonic global 
-    capitalism. An economy based on other peoples' activities and how you get from A to B.+    capitalism: so many shops deal with just money.  
 +    Feral Trade is an economy based on other peoples' activities and how you get from A to B. 
     Even at this small scale it has a polemic value.     Even at this small scale it has a polemic value.
 +[[feral_trade_economy]] 
 +
 +Economic
 +
 +Profit is not a necessary motivation, which opens up the territory considerably.
  
-  * income scenarios +  * income scenario 
  
-The cafe would be designed as financially self sufficient, although application for seed funding from ACE London agreed as ok. A feral trade project: kate to put in the application, Marc & Ruth to support.+Slow start.  
 +All transactions logged and accounted for. 
 +The cafe would be designed as financially self sufficient, although seed funding needed for start-up equipment and utensils.
  
-   Feral Trade runs at a fabulous loss. +   Feral Trade runs at a fabulous loss, in business terms. 
 +   It operates in an absence of the principle of least effort, 
 +   excluding it from basic capitalist forms of success.  
 +   The investment is in the network. 
    
-  * hrs of operation, visitor patterns, winter plan +  * hours of operation, visitor patterns, winter plan 
  
-    Gallery hours are currently 12-5PM fri-sun, possibly extending to thurs. +Gallery hours are currently 12-5PM Fri-Sun, possibly extending to Thurs. 
-    Average 15-20 visitors per weekend. Mainly they arrive via Manor House tube.  +Current average 15-20 visitors per weekend, mainly arriving via Manor House tube.  
-    There is no cafe between the tube and HTTP although it is possible to take a  +There is no cafe between the tube and HTTP although it is possible to take a  
-    detour to Costa Coffee. The portuguese cafe in the other direction has only +detour to Costa Coffee, a commercial chain in the business mall on Green Lanes.  
-    portuguese people in it.  +Portuguese cafe in the other direction has cheap and good espresso and a largely Portuguese clientele.
-    The cafe would not necessarily be linked to shows. +
-    The gallery has an exhibit approximately 3/4 of the year. +
-    There are gaps between shows. In winter and gaps, the distributed library and feral  +
-    trade cafe could occupy the gallery space. People would visit for the library, or for meetings. +
-    Library visitor numbers are low but it's the intensity of the experience that counts. +
  
 +The cafe would not necessarily be linked to shows.
 +The gallery has an exhibit approximately 3/4 of the year.
 +There are gaps between shows. In winter and gaps, the distributed library [[http://www.http.uk.net/docs/exhib6/summer_of_folk.shtml]] and Feral 
 +Trade cafe could occupy the gallery space. People would visit for the library, or for meetings.
 +Library visitor numbers are low but it's the intensity of the experience that counts.
     It would be a coup to overcome geography and keep the cafe open in winter.     It would be a coup to overcome geography and keep the cafe open in winter.
     Without affecting global warming.      Without affecting global warming. 
-    Patio bonfires worth looking into. +    Patio bonfires are worth looking into.
-    In winter it could be a kiosk, menu devised for creating heat or utilising refrigeration.+
  
   * caretaking: human resources as they currently stand   * caretaking: human resources as they currently stand
  
-    When the gallery is open, there is someone always available to respond to visitors. +When the gallery is open, there is someone always available to respond to visitors. 
-    Sat and sun have more dedicated inviglation, fri can be more hectic. +Saturday and Sunday have dedicated invigilation, Fridays can be more hectic. 
-    Currently Ale (administration and coordination) does fri+sat, sun there is a paid invigilator. +Currently Ale (Furtherfield administration and coordination) does Fri-Sat; Sunday they pay an invigilator. 
  
-    * roles for cafe: preparation, service, cash-taking, cleaning up, stock management.+Hazards: At what scale would the cafe interfere with the basic running of other office activity?
  
-    Cafe service role should be rotated amongst present core personnel.  +    * roles for cafe. 
-    This kind of distributed culture is integral to the way furtherfield works as a group. +
-    Cafe service should be continuous with natural office life. Disinvest food service of +
-    lowered status, service as a portal for communications.+
  
-    Stock management would be 1 person's responsibility.  +**Service:** preparation, waiting, cash-taking. 
-    Probably Ale who deals with this kind of thing anyway.+Cafe service role would be rotated amongst present core personnel.  
 +This kind of distributed culture is integral to the way Furtherfield works as a group. 
 +http://www.furtherfield.org/about.php 
 +Cafe service should be continuous with / accessory to natural office life and disinvest food service of any lowered status. Instead advance tea and coffee service as an active communications medium / interpretation of aristotlean ideas of [[householding]], which can be defined as production for use as opposed to production for gain. 
  
 +**Management:** Feral Trade would remain involved in the politics and practicalities of supply.
 +
 +Weekly stock management would be 1 person's responsibility,
 +probably Ale who deals with this kind of thing anyway.
  
   * physical setup: service and storage spaces, equipment investment, utensil choices   * physical setup: service and storage spaces, equipment investment, utensil choices
 +
 +Initial investment would be an advantage (equipment, utensils, presentation media).
 +Stock would be expected to cover itself.
          
-    Decking. Sound the landlord out on this between rent payments.  +Decking that runs along the side of HTTP building would be prime seating area. Sound the landlord out on this between rent payments.  
-    Landlord relations are distantly friendly. There is a janitor who keeps a close eye  +Landlord relations are distantly friendly. There is a janitor who keeps a close eye  
-    on the compound. +on the compound. If landlord rejects decking plans, the parking spaces in front are  
 +formally HTTP's, included in rent. Cafe could serve from here with guests seating themselves informally. 
 +Is the back garden an alt possibility?
  
-    If landlord rejects decking plans, the parking spaces in front are legally HTTP's +Tables, chairs, umbrellas, signage would be important to communicate cafe presence to the nighbourhood.
-    paid for with rent. Cafe could serve from here.+
  
-    Liability would need to be thought through.+    Liability would need to be thought through or ignored.
  
   * publicity   * publicity
  
-    Cafe would have its own publicity strand, as a HTTP project. +Cafe would have its own publicity strand as a HTTP project. 
-    Also promoted as background for exhibitions.+Also promoted as background for exhibitions. 
 + 
 +  * operating models (positive and negative) 
 + 
 +    Cafe Kino http://www.cafe-kino.com/about/index.htm, Bristol.  
 +    Run by a collective of artists etc who also run the Here Shop & Gallery over the road. 
 +    Mnay of their customers are from their extended social networks & probably live  
 +    within a few blocks. People go there for the sociability, decor, wifi,  
 +    good tea/coffee, cultural contagion plus pleasure of investing in own social  
 +    networks.  
 + 
 +    Leila's Shop, Shoreditch. Review covers the for & againsts pretty effectively: 
 +    http://londonreviewofbreakfasts.blogspot.com/2008/04/leilas-shop-shoreditch.html
  
 =====  REGULATION ===== =====  REGULATION =====
  
-Use existing premises regulations as a template/ jelly mould for evasion or compliance. Produce an Exceptions reading menu as research result. +Use existing [[uk_premises_regulations]] as a template/ jelly mould for evasion or compliance.  
 + 
 +    Produce a Regulatory reading menu as research project.  
 + 
 +===== HTTP structure  ===== 
 + 
 +  * Current conditions 
 + 
 +Umbrella company is Catlow & Garrett, a partnership and tax entity, deals with rent and overheads, PAYE etc. 
 +HTTP is a http://furtherfield.org project. 
 +HTTP & Furtherfield are not for profits, with written constitutions. 
 +Furtherfield has an advisory board and is funded by Arts Council England. 
 +HTTP is located in a business arena zoned as mixed / live-work. 
    
 =====  MENU =====   =====  MENU =====  
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    Coincide with HTTP core curatorial principles    Coincide with HTTP core curatorial principles
 +   Promote Feral Trade experimental trader aims.
  
-   Goods will be informationalised (onboard or on menu)+   Food goods will be informationalised (onboard or on menu)
  
-   Determined by a biodiversity of criteria, none of which will be primary / exclusionary. +   Selection will involve a biodiversity of criteria, none of which should be  
-   Seasonality, localness, information on source, information on carriage, +   primary or exclusionary. Stock considerations include:
-   trade relations with source, trade relations with courier. +
-  +
-   Possible ethicless ingredients will be involved. +
-   Undercut profit-motivated product fascism of fresh 'n' wild. +
-    +
-   Expand conception of local beyond village fortress model  +
-   like the scale-free hubs of the internet.+
  
-   Read-write menu. Open to random vendors eg. customers can contribute  +   - compliance with or skirting the regulatory perimeters [[uk_premises_regulations]] 
-   (sell/trade/gift) stock.+   - shelf life: essential for a slow-sales charter 
 +   - the facility of the food item to host information, including 
 +   - information on source: relations with land embodied by the transport of its produce 
 +   - information on carriage: network relations, trade relations of delivery, embodied by courier. 
 +   - seasonality, including transportation seasons 
 +   - localness
  
-   Economy of scale. Enables hosting small batches/single items. Ultra seasonality. +   Expand understanding of localness beyond the territorially bounded, landlocked model  
-   Menu should be easily adaptable and transmissable +   of the village, to a shared set of connections with known transit routes,  
-   perhaps database-driven. +   like the scale-free hubs of the internet. 
  
-   Courier process. Use moviing social networks incl. known / funded travel to HTTP  +[[common_products]]
-   to deliver goods from afar, even shop-bought ones. Journey and relationship  +
-   documented, expands attention beyond gourmet-style fetishisation of origin. +
  
-   Artists foods: eg. Food for Free project apple mush on toast+   The commodity, as object produced for sale on the market, conceals its relationships  
 +   except for the money relation. The product of the commons is filled with  
 +   human relations, including possibly unpleasant ones (Peter Linebaugh). 
 +   Ingredients and products with questionable ethics can be included, along with their  
 +   source information. The main thing is to expand the product monologue to articulate a  
 +   larger picture of the world it moves through. 
 +[[tea_from_bangladesh]] 
 +    Compare with Fair Trade which limits its communiques to the the iconic picture of  
 +    farmer/producer/collective, a surprisingly homogenous landscape 
 +http://feraltrade.org/fair
  
-   Source producers from HTTP social networks (cake, jams, herbs, sprouts)    +reversing earlier radical trajectory of visualising agriculture labour - in the case of gleaning - as a statement on rural poverty as opposed to example of pastoral virtue: François Millet 1857 
-   incl city farm and allotment contacts. + 
 +http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~waste/timeline/story-pic1.htm 
 + 
 +[[breakdown_of_expenses]]: menu to also include itemisations in the transit of cash involved in the goods' procurement, particularly its obstacles, as the materiality of money in small quantities generally defies the idea of the smooth movement of finance across global networks. 
 + 
 +   Feral Trade opens up food-labelling as a platform for discussion and adaptation, as VS  
 +   righteous boasting and promotion of purity fetishes.  
 +   Undercut profit-motivated product constructions of elevated origins and destinies,  
 +   the type of truth claim propagated by fresh 'n' wild. 
 + 
 +   Read-write menu. Open to intervention from random vendors eg. customers can contribute  
 +   menu items via sell/trade/gifting stock. 
 + 
 + 
 +   Economy of miniaturisation / small-scale. Enables hosting small batches/single items 
 +   ultra short seasons. 
 +   Menu should be easily adaptable and transmissable, perhaps database-driven,  
 +   and include a section for items not in stock eg. in negotiation or pending. 
 + 
 + 
 +   Courier process. Use moving social networks including known and funded travel to HTTP  
 +   to deliver goods from afar, including store-bought ones. Documenting these journeys and 
 +   relationships expands attention on food provenance beyond a gourmet-style fetishisation  
 +   of origin or source, to a broader ecology of supply.  
 +   Promote inter-organisational trade with artistic peers, local and foreign.                
 + 
 +   Challenge fresh+wild to a duel. 
 + 
 +   Source producers or recipes from HTTP social networks    
 +   including city farm and allotment, home cultivation (cake, jams, herbs, sprouts) .  
 +   Commission or collect artists' food projects.  
 + 
 +   Regulatory limits: Define and serve emergency food products; outer limits of biscuit. 
 +   Cream tea variations. 
  
    Feral Trade staples start menu.     Feral Trade staples start menu. 
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   -    Tea from Bangladesh (TBC)   -    Tea from Bangladesh (TBC)
   -    Cola from Bristol.   -    Cola from Bristol.
- +  -    Salt from Gujarat
  
-  +  Other organisational contenders 
-   +  -    Fo.am Brussels. Grappa, Latvian cured meats, computer chocolate biscuits. 
 +  -    Mejor Vida Corporation, Mexico City. Hot chocolate 
 +  -    Irational.org, Bristol. Food for Free apple mush 
  
-  * food sources: search existing http networks for producers +===== OUTPUTS ===== 
-  * new networks: city farm, green roof, guerilla garden and allotment relations + 
-  * considerations: legal perimeters, shelf life, network relations +   proposed demo for mid-september ( jeremey bailey show) 
-  * integrate feral trade core aims +   possibly a harvest party / launch in oct? 
-  * source and transport via organisational networks, use current affiliations and transits plus promote new ones (grocery callouts to allied orgs) + 
-  * standard form for visiting artists/residents +   local: table menu of contents / protocols / products; launch/event
-  * limits of biscuit +
-  * commissioning foods, seasonality +
-  * writeability: visitors can supply menu items?  +
-  * staples: coffee, tea, milk, sugar, cola, 'biscuits' incl. computer-biscuits, condiments incl. apple mush +
-  * emergency sale items +
-  * cultivation +
-  * under the counter other +
- +
  
-**OUTPUTS**+   external: present at fo.am open sauces in brussels in november as part of public diet  
 +   disucssion
  
-  * local: table menu of contents / protocols / products; launch/event 
-  * external: present at fo.am open sauces event in brussels in november as part of public diet strand; optional network/franchise 
  • public_diet.txt
  • Last modified: 2022-03-16 11:14
  • by nik