Interdisciplinary PhD Candidates and Intermedia MFA alumni John Bell, Richard Corey, and Bethany Engstrom produced Invasive Species, a new collaborative Culinary Incident, as their dissertation show, which took place July 31 and August 1 at the IMRC Center.
Invasive Species explored the idea of what it means to be local or ‘from away’ through storytelling, environment, and food, in particular in connection to being from Maine. The audiences arrived to a setting reminiscent of being on a Maine river at night as the moon reflected off of the water. Seated in canoes, each facing each other with a table in between, the audience was encouraged to strike up a game of cribbage as they work while visiting camp. Led by one main actor, stories of a life recently passed were told while generated images were projected, reflecting the events of her childhood until her death, lamenting on the joys and tragedies that took place. Local comfort foods with a twist, including corn chowder, baked beans, haddock cakes, shepherds (China) pie, and whoopee pies, were served amongst the stories.
