LA Menu Munchies
DVD Zine (2006). 60 min.
World Premiere at the Japanese American National Museum
Created by Alan Nakagawa, Mona Kasra, and Alex Alferov. WHAT DOES A CITY TASTE LIKE? This digital magazine portrays Los Angeles' urban fabric through food. LA's longest running inter-ethnic arts collective, Collage Ensemble Inc. collaborates and eats up a storm in this dynamic video poetry of food, story and digital portraiture. A ten-year-old chef, Russian Easter, midnight in Hollywood for historic fast food, Persian New Year, the history of Okonomiyaki, and the Day of the Dead are just some of the pieces of this non-narrative pie. LA based arts collective Collage Ensemble Inc. was founded in 1984 as a collaborative vehicle for artists who address the L.A. urban experience. Collage Ensemble Inc. creates environments, live presentations, and other art works that aim to transport the viewer to a place of social understanding and alternative views. The collective's work has resulted in video art works, performances, exhibitions, limited edition poetry books, public art, digital art, audio cassettes, audio compact discs, installations, two-dimensional art, and has presented their works in CA, Seattle, St. Louis, Denver, New York, Tokyo, Mexico City, Osaka, Hiroshima, Kobe, and Saitama-Ken. 60 min.
PRESS RELEASE:
WHAT DOES A CITY TASTE LIKE?
L.A.’s longest running inter-ethnic arts collective, Collage Ensemble Inc., collaborates and eats up a storm in this dynamic video poetry of food, story and digital portraiture. A ten-year-old chef, Russian Easter, midnight in Hollywood for historic fast food, Persian New Year, the history of Okonomiyaki, and the Day of the Dead are just some of the pieces of this non-narrative pie.
Collage Ensemble Inc. (Mona Kasra, Alex Alferov and Alan Nakagawa ) collaborate with over forty artists and food lovers and serve you a unique food magazine with an artistic spin. You are what you eat and this is the City of Los Angeles.
Dedicated to Nam June Paik. Thank you for creating Global Groove. This is our response.
“We’ve been working on this project for about two years, going to our favorite local restraunts and being invited into people’s homes for a good meal, it’s not a normal cookbook video, this is something more poetic and somewhat abstract. it’s our survey of our city through food”, says Collage Ensemble Inc’s Alan Nakagawa.
Featuring the cultural and cooking talents of: Zain Azeem, Sharla Bissell, David Callaghan, Antonio Campos Hernandez, Kyung Chi and Family, Young Chi, Norma Coronel, Jacqueline Dadon, Jacqueline Dreager, David Ellis, Sameth Fanous, Nicholas Fedak II, Chris Geanopulas, Doug Gouchman, Susan Gray, Isamu Hada and Family, Diana Hall, Mayumi Hamada, Peter Harris, Virginia Harvey, Miguel Hernandez, Maria Elena Hernandez, Teresa Hernandez, Seth Hill, Steven M. Irvin, Waynna Kato, Reiko Kawamura, Paul Kim, Noel Korten, Claudia Kunin, Kevin Leung, Michelle Martinez, David Mehrania, Kinuko Miyagishima, Jeffrey Mohr, Takamitsu Ozawa, Arthur Pembleton,Yayoi Robinson,Hiromi Sato & Rick Alpers, Ignacio Sugura, Toru Suzuki, Yuko Uchikawa, Kristina Wong.
Thank you to the following company’s for their support: 18th Street Arts Complex Indochine Vien Restaurant, Side Street Projects,Otafuku International, Pink’s, Self Help Graphics, The former South Central Farm, Teresita’s Restaurant Tombo Restaurant. Special thanks to Cathy Davies, Anjo Stanton, Paul Kim and Sameth Fanory. Very warm and special thanks to Sojin Kim, Lisa Itagaki, Maria Kwong, Sabrina Motley and the staff at the Japanese American National Museum.
This DVD is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.
LA based arts collective Collage Ensemble Inc. was founded in 1984 as a collaborative vehicle for artists who address the L.A. urban experience. Collage Ensemble Inc. creates environments, live presentations, and other art works that aim to transport the viewer to a place of social understanding and alternative views. The collective's work has resulted in video art works, performances, exhibitions, limited edition poetry books, public art,digital art, audio cassettes, audio compact discs,installations, two-dimensional art, and has presented their works in CA, Seattle, St. Louis, Denver, New York, Tokyo, Mexico City, Osaka, Hiroshima, Kobe, and Saitama-Ken.
