When was the last time you plucked your dinner off a silver spike, or picked it up from a sliver plate sprouting from a grassy field? Last night, CULTURED and Mastercard™ helped kick off Art Basel week in Miami with a priceless™ experience at an Ananas Ananas one-of-a-kind culinary feast.
The edible installations and immersive dining encounters arranged by Verónica González and Elena Petrossian are deliberately fleeting, and always unconventional. The pair, who founded their food-art studio in 2019, are launching a new collection of avant-garde metalware, Dos Puntos, designed to augment typical eating habits and force diners to slow down and interact—both with their meal and each other.
“The designs of the objects aren’t traditional serve ware, they’re more playful and experimental. [They] force whoever comes in contact with the pieces to be present and think about what they’re doing,” explain the designers. “Object 102, which is our most experimental piece with skewers coming out, was designed with the idea of reinventing a serving ‘dish’ much like a charcuterie board, except you can thread through olives, cheese, fruit, etc. instead of on a plain board.”
Over the past few years, González and Petrossian meticulously observed their guests, cataloging moments ripe for intervention. The culmination of this study is taking tableware into a new realm after centuries of stagnation across cultures and continents. The works—made by craftsmen in Baja, California, where González lives—were made to be functional for diners, “regardless of culture, upbringing, circumstance, or location in the world.”
The Standard Spa, Miami Beach provided the perfect setting for a demonstration with the stainless steel pieces. Guests—including artist Rogan Gregory, interior designer Sara Story, stylist and artist Shannon Stokes, art advisor Nazy Nazhand, and artist Danié Gómez Ortigoza—entered the lush gardens to find the steel structures offering an array of savory pastries, desserts, and jello, all to be accompanied by cocktails made with Morgan McLachlan’s Amass botanical spirits.
“We think objects should bring joy when they are around you,” the designers share. “We think about these objects as utilitarian and beautiful at the same time. We hope whoever uses our pieces keeps them out on display as sculptures rather than tucked away in their cabinets with the rest of their tableware.”
