#mapping project

Wellesley College’s student newspaper endorsed the controversial Boston “Mapping Project” last week in an article penned by the editorial board, claiming the project provides a “vital service.”

The project, published this past summer by BDS supporters, links a range of Massachusetts-based Jewish groups, synagogues, schools, police departments, media and other institutions that the anti-Israel activists claim participate in harmful activities and should be dismantled. The project’s website hosts a map with the locations of their targets and information about them, including the names of some of their staff.

“We believe that the Mapping Project is providing a vital service,” the Wellesley News editorial board wrote. “Collecting data about these institutions, tracing their financial and political activity and publicizing this information is incredibly important. Simply revealing that these ties exist is not justification for violence or bigotry of any kind. Rather, it forces us to reconsider our individual role in a systemic harm.”

 This recipe will be the one I base off of the body extension group based off of the triangular extensions used to distort and reflect projections. When I thought about taking inspiration from their structure, the first thing that popped to mind was 粽子(Zongzi) which are a traditional Chinese food item that are in the same shape.  They have sticky rice and various fillings in the middle and are wrapped in either a reed leaf or a bamboo leaf. They are traditionally eaten during the dragon boat festival but are available year-round at many stores in China. There is a story that when the famous poet Qu Yuan threw himself into a river in despair after failing to prevent his kingdom from being overtaken by the Qin, the townspeople threw wrapped packets of rice into the river to keep the fish from eating at his body.  

I like that this recipe also has it’s roots in Chinese cuisine/Chinese culture. I plan on making slight adjustments to the recipe however, which would go along with the theme of cultural exchange and cultural mixing.  I have fond memories of eating zongzi with my host family back in Beijing and am excited to share that experience with my classmates.  In addition to the leaves I plan on wrapping the dumplings in tinfoil to further reflect my peer’s project.

I found this recipe below.  I am confident about being able to find all of the ingredients I need with the possible exception of the reed/bamboo leaves at the nearby asian market, Way-1. I might have to find a 

http://tasteasianfood.com/zongzi-recipe/

And for a fun tidbit Starbucks(星巴克）in China came up with their own take on zongzi. They had either Starbucks inspired or sweet fillings and the outside was quite literally ice!  I had seen these on display and advertised while I was in China, but never got a chance to try them before I left. 

Here are Tuesday’s notes of my ideas. It’s quite a different path than the one I was considering before, but the pathway of forethought is still pretty clearly visible.

There are things highschool me would have expected college me to be doing late on a Tuesday night, and it’s safe to say shopping for jars of cuttlefish ink and activated bamboo charcoal powder on amazon is not one of them.

That being said, welcome to the world of black food. I’m still not entirely sure how I’m going to find a dish that represents the use of ink in my classmates body extention project.  I was thinking of having some kind of black syrup that students could drizzle and “paint” over crepe like pancakes, but there are so many elements of that performance that would be near impossible to capture in a dish.  So for now just enjoy these photos of black food.