Eat me, I’m cute!

curated by ife collective on the occasion of Teste Mobili
07.09.2024
Former incinerator, Valdagno (VI)

Cuteness is a concept as exciting as it is subversive; its sweet veneer conceals the fervor capable of deconstructing categories and creates points of contact between us and otherness.

Starting from a visual and critical investigation of cuteness and its relationship with the garden, often associated with imaginaries of a sweetly subdued and normalized nature and zoomorphic decorations, an inverse collective process took shape, rethinking the appearance and functionality of what makes a garden cute: assembling a breakfast for humans and non-humans, a cute outdoor petit déjeuner to imagine and share possible connections between cuteness and gardens through participatory, critical, and profound perspectives.

Eat me, I'm cute! is a creative and conceptual workshop for edible cute decorations destined for non-human garden visitors. Thus, a branch became a support for a banquet made from vegetable butters, fruits, and seeds, the same that form dishes with fantastic and beastly shapes, or resembling flowers or plants. A final walk then served to place these treats on the grass, on trees, among the moss, offering them as a feast for the garden and forest's visitors.

Photos by Elena Lorenzi