Dec 4–7, I attended OZCHI, The Australian Human Computer Interaction conference, at the State Library of Victoria, in Melbourne. It was great to see old colleagues and friends, to meet new people, see some great work. As part of the conference, I was a best paper judge, and I attended On and Off the Table: Re-imagining Food and Wine Interactions workshop, where I presented:
Food for Thought: Using food as the locus for thinking.
ABSTRACT: Every person eats and has some kind of competence around eating. People eat for nourishment, sensual fulfilment and socialization. All 17 of the UN’s sustainability goals can be linked to food, and the food system is now recognised as a major driver of climate change due to changes in land use, depletion of freshwater resources, and pollution of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Food is personally, socially, politically and ecologically potent, making it an important vector through which to reimagine and redesign everyday interactions. In recent years, my research has taken a turn towards food as the vector through which to conduct diverse enquiries. This turn builds on professional culinary experience from my life before becoming a researcher and an ongoing, passionate interest in food as an aesthetically sophisticated, sensorially rich social glue. It extends my work in embodied design and commitment to more sustainable ways of approaching designing, designing research and living. In this proposal I provide an overview of my food-related research enquiries… (full text)