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-**feasability study for sustained sustenance: installing a Feral Trade Cafe at http galleryx, london uk autumn/winter 2008** +**feasability study for sustained sustenance: installing a Feral Trade Cafe at HTTP gallery, London UK, from autumn/winter 2008. A platform to present feral trade goods; and develop the protocols of refreshment service as accessory to the other public communications of the gallery. The research emerges from an interest in the public diet of cultural organisations where foods for thought and consumption might crossover; 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. **  
 + 
 + 
 +Feral Trade http://feraltrade.org 
 +HTTP http://www.http.uk.net
  
 ===== CAFE motives, structure and infrastructure ===== ===== CAFE motives, structure and infrastructure =====
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   * Motives for opening a cafe as an art project.   * Motives for opening a cafe as an art project.
  
-HTTP  [[http://www.http.uk.net]] is located in the back of beyond from the point of  +Practical 
-view of its visitors. + 
-It would like to give exhibition goers something more to chew on, such as    +1. HTTP is located in the back of beyond, a business arena in the residential London borough of Haringey http://www.haringey.gov.uk, from the point of view of its public. A cafe would offer visitors something to chew on alongside the art: sustenance and conviviality, enriched space for contemplation, information and reading, oppportunity to elongate visit. 
-sustenance and conviviality, space for contemplation, information and reading. + 
-Elongate visit.+2. A service for local residents and studio occupants. The neighbourhood is changing - incoming small business and studios - the cafe would be an interface to that. A means of connecting with the local community that's more fluid and open, a softer and more everyday interface than the gallery.  
 + 
 +Conceptual  
 + 
 +    http: The cafe will demonstrate an alternate economy and ecology that promotes free    
 +    processes and experiences other than those governed by hegemonic global 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. 
 +[[feral_trade_economy]] 
  
-Useful service for local residents and studio occupants. The neighbourhood is +Economic
-changing, it's a way of connecting with the local community that's more fluid and  +
-open, a softer and more everyday interface than the gallery. +
  
-    Demonstrate an alternate economy and ecology: so many shops deal with just money. +Profit is not a necessary motive, which opens up the operating territory considerably. 
-    Promote free processes and experiences other than those governed by hegemonic global  +Although stock should still pay for itself plus provide surplus for office consumption.
-    capitalism. 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.+
  
-  * income scenarios +  * income scenario 
  
 +Slow start. 
 All transactions logged and accounted for. All transactions logged and accounted for.
-The cafe would be designed as financially self sufficient, although application for seed funding agreed as ok. +The cafe will be designed as financially self sufficient, although seed funding required for start-up equipment and utensils.
  
    Feral Trade runs at a fabulous loss, in business terms.    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 
 +   market measure of success. 
    The investment is in the network.     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. +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. Portuguese cafe in the other direction.+detour to Costa Coffee, a commercial chain in the business mall on Green Lanes.  
 +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 cafe would not necessarily be linked to shows.
 The gallery has an exhibit approximately 3/4 of the year. 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 +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. 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.  +Library visitor numbers are low but it's the intensity of the experience that counts. 
-     +    http: 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 are worth looking into.+     
 +Patio bonfires worth looking into.
  
   * 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 invigilation, 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; Sundays there is an outside invigilator. 
  
-    * roles for cafe: preparation, service, cash-taking, cleaning up, stock management.+Hazards: At what scale would the cafe interfere with 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, advance tea and coffee service as a communications medium.+
  
-Weekly 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 natural office life, disinvesting refreshment service of any separate lowered status. [[householding]]
  
 +**Management:** Feral Trade would remain involved in the politics and practicalities of supply. Day to day 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.+Initial investment will be necessary (equipment, utensils, presentation media). 
 +At a minimum, tables, chairs, umbrellas and signage to communicate cafe presence to the nighbourhood.
          
-Decking. Sound the landlord out on this between rent payments. +The decking along the side of HTTP building is potentially prime seating area. HTTP to 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. If landlord rejects decking plans, the parking spaces in front are  on the compound. If landlord rejects decking plans, the parking spaces in front are 
-legally HTTP's, paid for within rent. Cafe could serve from here. +formally HTTP's, included in their rent. Cafe could serve from here with guests seating themselves informally (on the decking).
-Is the back garden an alt possibility?+
  
-    Liability would need to be thought through either way.+    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)+  * other models (positive and negative)
  
-    Cafe Kino in Bristol. Vegetarian cafe, opens weekdays 11-5, longer on weekends. +    Cafe Kino http://www.cafe-kino.com/about/index.htm, Bristol.  
-    Run by a collective of artists etc who also run the Here Shop and Gallery over the road. +    Run by a collective of artists etc who also run the Here Shop & Gallery over the road. 
-    High proportion of customers are their extended social networks who probably live  +    Many of their customers are from their extended social networks, probably from  
-    within a few blocks. People go for the sociability, decor, free wireless,  +    within a few blocks radius. People go there for the sociability, decor, wifi,  
-    good tea and coffee, cultural contagion plus pleasure of investing in own social +    good tea/coffee, cultural contagion plus pleasure of investing in own social 
     networks.      networks. 
  
-    Leila's Shop, Shoreditch. Review covers the for & againsts pretty effectively:+    Leila's Shop, Shoreditch. Groceries and cafe, review covers the for & againsts: 
     http://londonreviewofbreakfasts.blogspot.com/2008/04/leilas-shop-shoreditch.html     http://londonreviewofbreakfasts.blogspot.com/2008/04/leilas-shop-shoreditch.html
  
-=====  REGULATION =====+===== HTTP structure  =====
  
-    Use existing premises regulations as a template/ jelly mould for evasion or      +Umbrella company is Catlow & Garrett, a partnership and tax entity, deals with rent and overheads, PAYE etc. 
-    compliance. Produce a Regulatory reading menu as research project. +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 use (typically integrating residential, retail, commercial and social amenities) / live-work.
  
-===== HTTP structure  =====+=====  REGULATORY STRUCTURE =====
  
-  * Current conditions+[[uk_premises_regulations]]    
 +    Produce a Regulatory reading menu as research project.  
 +    Use existing regulations as a template/ jelly mould for evasion or compliance.  
 +http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=jello+mold&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title
  
-Umbrella company is Catlow & Garrett (unincorporated partnership). Tax entity, deals with rent and overheads, PAYE. 
-HTTP & Furtherfield are not for profits with written constitutions. 
-Furtherfield has an advisory board and is funded by ACE. 
-HTTP is a furtherfield.org project. 
-HTTP compound is zoned as mixed / live-work. 
- 
-  
 =====  MENU =====   =====  MENU =====  
  
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    Food goods will be informationalised (onboard or on menu)    Food goods will be informationalised (onboard or on menu)
  
-   Stock considerations include: regulatory perimeters, shelf life (perishability),  +   Selection will involve a biodiversity of criteria, none of which should be  
-   network relations, the facility of the food item to host information. +   primary or exclusionary. Stock considerations include: 
-   Selection will involve a biodiversity of criteria, none of which should be primary or exclusionary. + 
-   These include seasonality, locality, information on source, information on carriage, +   - compliance with or skirting the regulatory perimeters [[uk_premises_regulations]] 
-   trade relations with source, trade relations of delivery (embodied by courier). +   - shelf life: to avoid sales incentive or waste 
-  +   - the facility of the food item to host information, including 
-   +   - information on source: relations with land embodied by the transport of its produce 
-   Expand conception of localness beyond the territorial village model  +   - information on carriage: network relations, trade relations in delivery, embodied by courier/s. 
-   to a shared set of connections plus swift transit routes +   - seasonality, including transportation seasons 
 +   - localness 
 + 
 +   Expand understanding of localness beyond the territorially bounded, landlocked  
 +   village model, to a shared set of connections and navigable transit routes, 
    like the scale-free hubs of the internet.     like the scale-free hubs of the internet. 
  
 +[[common_products]]
  
    Ingredients and products with questionable ethics can be included, along with their     Ingredients and products with questionable ethics can be included, along with their 
-   source information. The priority is to expanding the product monologue to articulate a +   source information. The main thing is to expand the product monologue to articulate a 
    larger picture of the world it moves through.    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 homogenous landscape
 +http://feraltrade.org/fair
  
-[[common_products]]+    reversing earlier breaks with tradition in visualising agriculture labour as a  
 +    statement on rural poverty as opposed to example of pastoral virtue. Gleaning:  
 +    François Millet 1857
  
-   The commodity conceals its relations except for the money one; +http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~waste/timeline/story-pic1.htm
-   the product of the commons is filled with human relations, although including  +
-   possibly unpleasant ones: Peter Linebaugh.) +
  
 +   Feral Trade opens up food-labelling as a space for communication, as  
 +   opposed to righteous boasting and promotion of purity fetishes. 
  
-   Open up food-labelling as a platform for discussion and adaptation, as VS righteous  +http://feraltrade.org/research/righteous_products
-   boasting and promotion of purity fetish.  +
-   Undercut profit-motivated product aryanism of fresh 'n' wild.+
  
-   Read-write menu. Open to intervention from random vendors eg. customers can contribute  +   Undercut profit-motivated product constructions, elevated origins and destinies,  
-   via sell/trade/gifting stock.+   the type of truth claim propagated by fresh and wild.
  
 +[[breakdown_of_expenses]]: The cafe menu to also include itemisations in the transit of cash, as witnessed in the goods' procurement, particularly obstacles, as the materiality of money in small quantities generally defies the idea of the smooth movement of finance across global networks.
  
-   Economy of miniaturisation. Enables hosting small batches/single items: ultra seasonality. +   Read-write menu. Open to intervention from random vendors eg. customers can contribute  
-   Menu should be easily adaptable and transmissable +   menu items via sell/trade/gifting stock.
-   perhaps database-driven  +
-   and list items currently in negotiation or pending.+
  
 +   Economy of miniaturisation / small-scale. Enables hosting small batches/single items
 +   ultra short seasons.
 +   Menu should be easily adaptable and transmissable, probably database-driven, 
 +   and include a section for items not in stock: wished for, in negotiation or pending.
  
    Courier process. Use moving social networks including known and funded travel to HTTP     Courier process. Use moving social networks including known and funded travel to HTTP 
-   to deliver goods from afar, including store-bought ones. Journey and relationship  +   to deliver goods from afar, including store-bought ones. Documenting these journeys and 
-   documented, expands attention to food provenance beyond gourmet-style fetishisation  +   relationships expands attention on food provenance beyond a gourmet-style fetishisation  
-   of origin or source to the broader ecology of supply.  +   of origin or source, to a broader ecology of supply.  
-   Promote inter-organisational trade with artistic peers, local and foreign. +   Promote inter-organisational trade with artistic peers, local and foreign.               
-   Balkan and baltic states are a good place to start.               +
  
    Challenge fresh+wild to a duel.    Challenge fresh+wild to a duel.
  
-   Commission or collect artists' food projects  +   Source producers or recipes from HTTP social networks,    
- +   including city farm and allotment, home cultivation (cake, jams, herbs, sprouts).  
-   Source producers or recipes from HTTP social networks (cake, jams, herbs, sprouts)    +   Commission or collect artists' food projects. 
-   incl city farm and allotment, home cultivation. +
  
    Regulatory limits: Define and serve emergency food products; outer limits of biscuit.    Regulatory limits: Define and serve emergency food products; outer limits of biscuit.
    Cream tea variations.     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   Other organisational contenders
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 ===== OUTPUTS ===== ===== OUTPUTS =====
  
-   proposed start time mid-september ( for jeremey bailey show)+   proposed demo for mid-september ( jeremey bailey show) 
 +   possibly a harvest party / launch in oct?
  
    local: table menu of contents / protocols / products; launch/event    local: table menu of contents / protocols / products; launch/event
- 
  
    external: present at fo.am open sauces in brussels in november as part of public diet     external: present at fo.am open sauces in brussels in november as part of public diet 
    disucssion    disucssion
  
- 
-    
  • public_diet.txt
  • Last modified: 2022-03-16 11:14
  • by nik