Soup Kitchen
a recipe of one bright day
Participatory Happening/Playful Interface, 2022
The awakening scent of freshly cut grass, lingering hugs with a pillow, a cup of tea...What were the ingredients of your morning?
The "Soup Kitchen" is a playful experience created as an attempt to redefine the values of life in a ludic form.
The user is invited to take part in the game and share one day of the character's life. With the help of a tangible interface, the gamer defines the events of the story and creates a unique narrative.
The "Soup Kitchen" encourages the visitor to take a pause and reflect on one's average day. By separating 24 hours from the abstract concept of "lifetime", we can have a new perspective on what our real needs and goals are.
What do we have, and what are the bare necessities? Could it be that the recipe of one bright day is much simpler than we thought?
Presentation at Ars Electronica Festival 2022. Photo credit: Robert Bauernhansl.
Displayed for the first time at Ars Electronica 2022 as part of the exhibition Crossing the Bridge, Soup Kitchen is an interactive, playful interface designed as a tangible user interface (TUI) for meditative practice.
Technical support was provided by Vadim Konstantinov; production support by Fabricio Lamoncha Martinez.
This project takes its inspiration from the practice of gratitude journaling. For over a month, I recorded small everyday moments that brought comfort or joy. Over time, these entries revealed recurring themes such as connection, harmony, learning, helping others, and simple daily rituals.
Each of these themes became the basis for a short video memory, a one-minute audiovisual story capturing a particular moment and its emotional quality.
The kitchen became the project's central setting as cooking and sharing food are universal experiences that transcend cultural backgrounds. Beyond their practical function, food and kitchen rituals are often associated with care, comfort, and togetherness. By building the interaction around familiar cooking gestures, the installation encourages a slow, repetitive process that supports calmness, grounding, and reflection.
The interface was designed as a multisensory environment, combining different textures, physical objects, and natural materials. Real spices and fresh basil were placed on the surface, allowing visitors to engage with the work through touch, sight, and smell.
Guided by the facilitator, participants were invited to interact with the environment and to create their own pathway through these everyday moments by selecting food objects that reveal different memories. Through their choices, each visitor designed a path of one bright day.
Exchange between participants and the facilitator. Photo credit: Indiara Di Benedetto.
My Contribution:
- Research & Concept: Initiated the project, developed the research question and artistic concept, and designed the narrative, role-playing framework, and audience participation scenario.
- Interface Development: Designed the UI/UX and interaction structure, and collaborated with Vadim Konstantinov on the programming and technical implementation. Developed and produced the physical interface in collaboration with Fabricio Lamoncha Martinez.
- Audiovisual Development: Created the project's visual and audiovisual content, including illustrations, animations, video, filming, and editing.
- Project Coordination: Coordinated the production process and collaboration between the different contributors, overseeing the development of the project from concept to final installation.