August brought the first release of our return to foraged beers, Found Object 1. It is not only the name of the series of foraged beers, but also a category type of art. Art has always been an important part of the Wunderkammer, both in the historic context and in my brewing project. Found Object Art refers to when an artist uses something out in the world, either naturally occurring or manufactured, usually with its own unrelated function, and recontextualizes it by placing it in the art space. It was first conceived of by the Dadaists and was shocking in it's time for raising everyday items from their everyday contexts and elevating them to be considered as (capital A) Art. I feel that foraging for local ingredients specifically, but my use of raw materials generally, are my attempts to recontextualize and reconstruct the materials from my corner of the world and elevate them to the level of Art.
Photo Credit: (top row) Marcel Duchamp, “Bicycle Wheel”, 1916; Man Ray, “Object to Be Destroyed”, 1923; Pablo Picasso, “Bull’s Head”, 1942 — (bottom row) Louise Nevelson, “Royal Tide, Dawn”, 1960-64; Ai Weiwei, “Grapes”, 2011; Kyle Bean, “Which Came First”, 2011.