Sonoma county artists, along with others who share their concern for a return to locally grown organic produce as the norm, rather than the exception, present an exhibition of works themed around ideas of farming, agriculture, and the politics of food. A sense of reverence - for the Earth, for the gifts of nature, and for the toil involved in growing, harvesting, and preparing food - combines with a dose of irreverence toward food snobbery, indeed, snobbery in general; add a dash of urgency and a sprinkling of ominous foreboding and serve at room temperature.
As farms and pastureland are adopted for other uses, Sonoma, like many other areas once dependent on agriculture, begins to assume a new profile and identity, and to lose the close connection with food which it once had. A number of the works on view allude to the proliferation of vineyards and the way winemaking has grown to assume a dominant role in the economy of the area.
"Legend of Bovino," one of the most memorable works, supposes that cattle have been somehow breed to lactate wine. This project, dubbed "The Sonoma County Mammalian Enology Experimental Pasture" enlists John Colle Rogers and Mariel Triggs, also known as "Johnko Systems Unlimited," in a city plan for Sonoma including pens for all the wine producing critters, including zebras and giraffes along with the more prosaic cows. "Rhinostone," "Zebrandel" and "Long Neck Chardonnay," with giraffe-skin pattern adorning the label, are bottled and displayed as though for tasting.
Following this theme of viticulture and enology, we have Laura Parker's "Taste of Place," featuring a unique "soil bar tasting." This piece revolves around the French concept of "terroir," a belief that the soil in which something is grown imprints in own specific characteristics on its flavor. The artist requested donations of dirt from local farms, along with a fruit or vegetable grown there. A video of a "tasting" shows actually munching on the soil is discouraged, as the artist and her assistants offer samples for visitors to observe and inhale, praising the nuances of color and scent. Jars and wine glasses of dirt are positioned, like precious objects, on shelves at eye level.
"Hybrid Fields" occupies the first floor of Santa Rosa's Sonoma Museum, itself housed in a beautiful old beaux-arts building, at one time the town's post office. In this nostalgic setting, with its assortment of quasi-scientific, home-spun artifacts, the show begins to take on the character of a quirky county fair, complete with a juried exhibition of actual homemade jams and canned goods. This work, by Suzanne Cockrell and Ted Purves, included a live tasting and judging, with the grand prize winner's "piece" being formally accessioned by the museum.
