STEFANIA ANDREEA VLAD COM. INT
WORK PROCESS module 3 food design 2016
contents 1. CHOICE OF TOPIC 2. BRAINSTORMING - MINDMAP 3. FIELD RESEARCH - lust sex shop cph 4. DESK RESEARCH - trends (food & sex) 5. pRELIMINARY BRIEF 7. FUTURE THINKING
2
1. CHOICE OF TOPIC
Candy
Sex
The food ingredient/product I chose for this assignment is Candy and the food situation/context is Sex. The associations of these two give interesting and exciting areas to explore, and even though the nature of these topics might be taboo or challenging to approach as a school project, my hunch is that there is more to this that meets the eye (or our initial assumptions when we see these topics put together). My research and work process led me to discover compelling food trends, peculiar subcultures and unexpected situations where the two pleasures are combined for an outstending senzorial experience and nonetheless, as artefacts to communicate cultural and political aspects in contemporary society.
3
2. brainstorming - mindmap I started my work process with a session of brainstorming using Mindmapping as a research/ design method to explore the connections between the two topics: CANDY and SEX. The initial findings and associations led me to key words that potentially can describe the two topics: Pleasure, Relaxation, Reward, Sweet, Playful, Shapes, Chemistry, Pleasure hormones, Dopamine, Oxytocin, Taste, Smell, Humor, etc.
Mind map 1
4
Mind map 2
Mind map 3
5
3. field research In order to gain more knowledge regarding the food and sex trends and what products are on the market that connect Candy with Sex, I visted the Lust Sex Shop in Copenhagen. The range of products they sell in this shop is not as wide as I expected, but I found a variety of products that are more in the area of sweets and candy, mints and eadible massage oils and creams. You can choose to have some “willies“ or breastshapes jellies and mints, falic-shaped lollipops, underware made of candy, or make a mold of chocolate of your girlfriend’s gentitalia. The way this products are presented varies, from humoristic to erotic, but they stay in the comfortable zone, being the kind of products that you offer as a funny bachlorette presents or to spice up the activity in the bedroom as innocent games or fruity senzorial experiences.
Edible products at Lust Sex Shop in Copenhagen
6
This research gave me the chance to look upclose at the products, read the labels, smell the different oils and have a short conversation with the shop assistant, who wasn’t very revealing in regards to the customers (confidentiality policy, I guess), but she did tell me that the type of customers who are buying this type of products are “all kind of people“.
4. desk research - trends (food & sex) Google search - images I started my Desk Research looking for all types of products and edible items in the range of candies and sweets that are related to sex in a way or another. After a simple Google search, I found a multitude of products, from aphrodisiacs, genitalia-shaped sweets and lollipops, to mold-kits that you can use to cast your own candy and chocolate, to explosive sugar used for massage, to oils and creams in unimaginable flavors and colors. Here you can see a selection of the products I found:
etc. dopamine and oxytocine Further on, I researched how candy/sugar and Sex are related at the chemical level and how the different “pleasure“ hormones are affecting the body. Dopamine is the ”feel-good” hormone with many benefits for the body and mind, but is a “double-edged sword”: the intense pleasure, or thrill, it offers is addictive, however rewarding/motivating it is. In fact, it turns any habit into an addiction, depending on frequency and dosage. Dopamine diversifies pleasure, creating mere pleasures “by association,” that are not caused by a typical pleasing sensation, but by something else happening simultaneously. The brain then makes a subconscious connection between the two, interpreting a behavior as “pleasurable & worth repeating.” This further complicates people’s tastes and strengthens their habits1. Because of this, throughout the history candy has been associated with adultery, poison, disease, addiction and vice2. Oxytocin is the social pair-bonding courage-boosting “cuddling hormone” and it’s secreted in high 1. http://rheg.vastserve.com/articles/love-chemistry.htm?i=3 2. http://www.salon.com/2010/05/21/morality_candy_interview/
7
amounts during sex, speeding up the attachment to the partner. It stimulates the brain to later remember the smell, voice, appearance of our partner in order to bond with him/ her. The consumption of sugar has similar effects on our brain and this way the addictive nature of this “food“ creates associations between the two pleasures. Actually, in order to define if candy is food, the tax law on sugar states that “candy is a preparation of sugar, honey, or other natural or artificial sweeteners combined with chocolate, fruits, nuts, or other ingredients or flavorings and formed into bars, drops, or pieces. But any sweet that contains flour is considered food, and thus not taxable“3, therefore the line is drawn at flour. Therefore, having a sugar tax on candy, this product is put in the same “dangerous consumables“ category, therefore the various negative connotations that is associated with this product.
3d printed candy Looking into the latest food trends and technology, the 3D print technology is becoming more and more used and advanced with impressive results that enables manufacturers and entrepreneurs to create food items that are carefully and very detailed designed so you can have a unique culinary experience. The candy industry is benefiting of this technological advancements and there are businesses which are having as main products 3D printed candies and jellies which are very attractive for children and their parents, but also for people who want creative ways to indulge in something sweet. For this, I looked at Magic Candy Factory by Katjes, “the world’s first 3D gummy candy printer”4, a German company, “which gives the customer’s imagination all the power and allow them to create truly customized & delicious gifts and treats”. There are many other companies who are getting involved with this new way of producing food. Some of the key players include: TNO (innovation for life), Philips, Electrolux, Barilla, Nestle, NASA, Hershey’s, Modern Meadow, Choc Edge, 3D Systems, Natural Machines, ZMorph, Fab@Home, ChefJet just to mention a few. Bellow you can see some examples of 3D printed candies and jellies.
3 4
http://www.salon.com/2010/05/21/morality_candy_interview/ http://magiccandyfactory.com/our-vision/
8
sex and food - munchies.vice.com Going even deeper on my research I landed on munchies.vice.com, a Vice channel that displays various videos and articles about food, with a sub-channel exploring various subcultures and practices that bring together on the same plate food and ...sex. This point in my work process reveled to be so intriguing and revealing that I realized how complex and branched out is our culture and how people use food in sex practices of many kinds. I knew that food and sweet foods in particular have sensual and sensuous associations, but these videos and their stories show how creative and intense people can get and how complex and detailed these subcultures are in fact. Besides the strangeness of the practices, these stories are great inspiration when thinking about creativity in food design and purposes, that go beyond the basic need of food as nourishment and go to other realms where we use other senses in order to experience food. Some of these odd practices that bring together food and sex are: sploshing (a food fetish that arouses all of your senses and every part of your body), body sushi, edible intimates, feeder fetishes, love potions and aphrodisiacs. This trend in food and edible items are opening new doors and opportunities in the design area and what an eating experience can be in this day-and-age. Having in mind this technical possibilities, I can’t help myself but wonder how can this be used when talking about sex and food. Going deeper in my research, didn’t take long to find MY STORY, which combines in a very interesting way the matter of sex, edible items, sweets and chocolate and the endless possibilities of modern technology, and of course communication, culture and politics.
The story of rebecca kling “After a night of drinking, she came up with the idea to make a mold of her penis so that she could cast objects to sell on her fundraiser site - things like candy, chocolate and candles.“1 On short, this is the story of Rebecca Kling, a 28-year-old transwoman from Chicago, who 3D-scanned her penis before removal and used the mold to cast various edible and decoration objects to raise funds for her operation and to talk about gender equality and sexuality issues, and nonetheless, to use her body parts as communication, food and interaction artifacts. This story was posted on vocativ.com2 in 2013 and it inspired me to find out more information about this bizarre way of raising money for a gender reassignment surgery, that implied the use of technology and an unexpected way to relate to food and sex. The owners of sex toy company the New York Toy Collective offered to scan and print an almost exact mold of her penis, that she used afterwards to create candies, chocolates and ornamental objects. As ridiculous as the nature of this fundraiser is, for Kling, the reason why she has to do this in the first place is serious. Her health insurance will not cover any transition-related needs, as they are considered elective procedures rather than medical must-haves. As part of her fundraiser campaign, a party was organized with a variety of sex-positive activities, from spanking to an arts and crafts table where you can buy and decorate chocolates and ornamental versions of Kling’s penis. From the party itself, Kling made a profit of $1,400, and to date she has raised almost $7,000 for her surgery coming up in late December. Despite not reaching her goal of $20,000, she says the party and the molding project were a major success in that she achieved her ultimate goal of making the journey to her big day less scary and more fun. She also successfully stirred the needed conversation around the politics and lack of trans health care that put her in this position in the first place.
1 http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/scanning-the-future-of-3d-printed-sex-toys-nsfw 2. http://www.vocativ.com/36403/3d-printed-penises/
9
Rebecca Kling - getting 3D scanned
Rebecca Kling - her 3D penis molds
Candy Casts of Rebecca’s penis
Rebecca’s story is a particular case, but it has the potential to encapsulate a food trend that in the future could meet an expansion due to technological development and cultural and social progress in the way people relate to sex and edible items. At this stage, the “possibilities are endless“ and is only a matter of imagination and future predictions of potential scenarios how this could evolve as a food trend in the pleasure section of this topic.
10
sex in the future
In my research, I also looked at various predictions on the future of sex, trying to understand where are we going and what is to be expected. An interesting prediction relevant to my subject are is related to Remote Sex, saying that by the year 2025, “3D printed body parts of your lover, enabled with touch feedback, will add intense realism to long-distance sex.” Another future trend in the Sex area would be the use of drugs by women who have sexual dysfunctions. I find this trend relevant for my research because I can see the potential how these drugs can be used to enhance the sexual activity, in the form of sweet food items, therefore a mix between candy and sexy edible objects. Dr. Berman speculates that the future will bring more advancements in drugs aimed to help women in the bedroom. “The Food and Drug Administration has approved 20 medications for men to help treat sexual dysfunction. The number approved for women? Zero. I believe that our male-centric and limited attitude toward female sexual health will expand over the coming decades as women advocate for themselves more“1. 1 http://www.wsj.com/video/the-future-of-sex-robots-and-virtual-reality/C402159C-7950-45BF-A56F-7DEC50AD1122.html
11
5. preliminary brief Part of my work process was to write the Preliminary Brief that describes in general terms the topics and my connections regarding the findings and directions I have for this assignment. It gives a proposal for the heading for the article, the leading and the hook of the story, and a brief of the subjects I explored until this stage in the project.
STEFANIA ANDREEA VLAD COM. INT.
candy & sex & the future PRELIMINARY BRIEF
SCAN, PRINT AND EAT SWEET sexy objects “After a night of drinking, she came up with the idea to make a mold of her penis so that she could cast objects to sell on her fundraiser site - things like candy, chocolate and candles.“1 On short, this is the story of Rebecca Kling, a 28-year-old transwoman from Chicago, who 3D-scanned her penis before removal and used the mold to cast various edible and decoration objects to raise funds for her operation and to talk about gender equality and sexuality issues, and nonetheless, to use her body parts as communication, food and interaction artifacts. What do candy, sex and 3D scanning/printing have in common? Rebecca’s story2 opens new horizons in the way we perceive and engage with food (and pleasure foods - candy, chocolate) in 2016. Therefore, how can modern technology can influence or change our perception of candy and sex? Pleasure is the direct connection between candy and sex, but at a closer analysis and deeper semiotic and cultural decoding, we find that candy is also tainted with the notion of sin and throughout the history candy has been associated with adultery, poison, disease, addiction and vice. From the chemical point of view, there are similarities in the way sugar and sex is affecting our brains and bodies - both dopamine and oxytocin are “pleasure” and “cuddling“ hormones, but with the same risk of developing addictions3. So, why not bringing the two elements together and explore new horizons in both areas? In my research so far I found a plethora of examples on how candy could take sexy shapes and that they have a special place in the erotic industry and practices. The interesting part is that the technology is already here, enabling us to create food items that go beyond the basic purpose of nourishment and provoke us to act and interact with food in unexpected ways. The technological advancements in 3D scanning and 3D printing enable candy producers to create all-shapes candies and gummies (such as Katjes4, the Germany candy company, that claims that is the first 3D printer for food available to the public) and there is only a matter of time until one can scan and 3D print his/her genitalia in order to bring some sugar and spice in the bedroom, or to give an original gift (a realistic and detailed edible replica of own genitalia) to someone with sense of humor and erotic playfulness, or to create entertaining events and happenings. The sex-toy industry is also growing and started using the 3D scanning and printing technologies5, and as the future sex trends predicts6, by 2025 will be possible to 3D-print body parts of your lover, enabled with touch feedback, adding intense realism to long-distance sex. Doing this preliminary research and going back to Rebecca’s story, I found out that an important trend to observe in the food and technology industry is that there are no limits on how one can communicate and engage an audience, open debates and conversations around sex, politics, health care, and food in the future, being very interesting to see how design and new technology can develop new ways to engage new audiences in this matter. 1 2 3 4 5 6
http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/scanning-the-future-of-3d-printed-sex-toys-nsfw http://www.vocativ.com/36403/3d-printed-penises/ http://rheg.vastserve.com/articles/love-chemistry.htm?i=1 http://magiccandyfactory.com/ http://makerlove.com/ https://www.visualnews.com/2016/09/20/interested-future-sex-check-report/
12
6. medias and future thinking Media: Article. Sender: Vice Magazine. I chose Vice to be the sender of my article due to the nature of the topics and the angle I chose to work with for this assignment. Sex and Candy is a subject that could fit the format and content of Vice magazine due to the controversial and taboo meaning. The articles on Vice feature a range of subjects, often things not covered by mainstream media, the content varies dramatically and its political and cultural stance is often unclear or contradictory. Heading updated: “Yes, eating intimate parts is a thing!“
Media: 3D scan and 3D print, online, events By 2026, the 3D scan and 3D print technologies will be ready to be used by public at large, therefore people who are interested to scan and print body parts and eat them afterwards will be able to do this easily. This way, another level of entertainment will be available, from the bedroom to social and entertaining events, where guests will have fun by eating their partners body parts. Values such as organic and locally grown ingredients, sustainable and ecologic will make their way in the sexy edible items and the food industry will be regulated so this food products will be in line with the health and quality requirements.
Media: online, 3D scan and 3D print, virtual reality, scan rooms in restaurants 2036 will bring exciting technological developments but also changes in the way restaurants are approaching the connection between edible items and sex. High-cuisine restaurants will use the technology of 3D scan and 3D print, and this will be used for customers to have unique culinary experiences. Food items will be created after their body parts, using aphrodisiac ingredients and inviting people to a unique experience combining all the senses, stimuli and sensations.
13
2016 2026
2036