Tasting Sense as part of Collective Senses,
The Rituals of Things pavilion, WONDERFRUIT, Thailand
Multi new-media: Participatory and Collaborative Art Project
by Baan Noorg Collaborative Arts and Culture (TH) X Waftlab (ID)
local herbal liquor and homemade fermented juices, popsicle tank, infused popsicle sticks, performance, participatory experiment, wooden bar, questionnaire paper, color pencils, multi new-media, sensors, speakers, screen
Taste is both an objective and subjective experience that shapes how we think and live. As a social practice, it reflects sociocultural contexts and is continually shaped by collective processes. Anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss described taste as a complex language: deciphering its symbolism reveals cultural orders and the social structures embedded in flavours. At the same time, taste embodies the principle of sharing, forming a basis for human connection and communal experience.
As part of Collective Senses, Tasting Sense is a participatory experiment that transforms taste into an interactive ritual. The work begins with a questionnaire in the form of riddles, which participants complete and return to the artist. Their answers are then interpreted into custom popsicles infused with local herbal liquors and homemade fermented juices, translating personal reflections into flavour. This back-and-forth gesture establishes a playful dialogue between artist and participant, making taste a medium of exchange.
The ritual culminates in a collective action: participants immerse their popsicles in a sound-generating popsicle tank, where melting and stirring activate resonant vibrations. Flavour, sound, and memory merge in this shared performance, transforming private perception into communal experience.
By linking taste with sonic interaction and social participation, Tasting Sense highlights how food rituals generate spaces of reflection, dialogue, and belonging. The work positions taste not only as individual perception but also as cultural language and collective ritual, binding people together through shared symbolism and sensory play.
