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Commuter Cookout investigates
vehicular commuter patterns as a choreography between body and
landscape. By adaptating
existing methods of engine-block cooking to the commuting patterns of the San
Francisco Bay Area, the project problematizes energy harvesting and notions
of efficiency. Hinting at the ecological toll of inter-county commutes, ‘Commuter
Cookout’ raises larger questions about the
need for a systemic overhaul.
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The text from our map reads:
"Cooking
on car engines is a long-standing American tradition, and the
particular provenance of both tinker-type Dads and cross-country
truckers. But harnessing the excess heat generated by the means of propulsion
predates the automobile’s invention. The Huns living in 300-400
A.D., known for their prowess as horsemen, would place meat under their
saddles.
The friction from riding would warm and tenderize the meat. Chris Mayard
and Bill Sheller, authors of the engine-cooking bible ‘Manifest
Destiny,’ perfected
their recipes while participating in the infamous 8,000 mile Cannonball
Run, a seven day non-stop driving interstate marathon."
"Commuting
to work used to mean money wasted on poor-quality, road-side
food of low nutritional value.
With Commuter Cookout, a cookset for the gourmand commuter, you can
cook tasty home-cooked meals on the engine of your car or the muffler.
Why
stew in stop-and-go traffic when you can sizzle in the fastlane?
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We first deployed ‘Commuter Cookout’ in June 2008 as part
of the Future Farmers Free Soil bus tour at an arts festival called
Zero One 2008.
Using the heat from a biodeisel bus, we cooked ratatouille for a group
of about 30 persons. We intend to re-deploy Commuter Cookout on another
commute route in the near future... stay tuned!
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Below are details
from the map:
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Bibliography
Purvis, Chuck. “Changing Commute Patterns: San Francisco Bay Area and Northern
California, 1980-2000.” ‘Metropolitan Transportation Commission’,
March 21, 2003
Maynard, Chris, and Bill Scheller. ‘Manifold Destiny: The One! The Only!
Guide to Cooking on Your Car Engine.’ New York, Villard Books, 1996.
Mitchell, Stacy. ‘Big Box Swindle.’ Boston: Beacon Press, 2006. |
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