Watching Ji Su Kang-Gatto’s work on my laptop is a form of pleasure and a delight, and I find myself on the edge of a rabbit hole. I decide to type the title of the film “How to cook Samgyetang” into the search bar on YouTube. In addition to the short film by Kang-Gatto, there are many other how-tos on the preparation of Samgyetang, or chicken ginseng soup, on the platform. I learn some new things about washing and soaking techniques, warming the core of the body, summer in Korea, restoring energy and balance, and fighting fire with fire. I indulge my senses, consuming and absorbing, all without lifting my finger from the trackpad.
To follow a recipe the way Kang-Gatto does calls for a readiness, to be present in the moment. The original recipe becomes blurred, while she borrows from it, adapts it, creates it anew, and later eats the result. Following a recipe this way shows that there is much more to the work of a hobby cook than the dutiful execution of a recipe in an act of passive compliance. It is possible to practice a kind of adherence that is not reduced to obedience to commands and which even critically questions authority. Instead, following the instructions can be a jumping off point.
To create a recipe or to present it in the form of a tutorial means giving directions. This however does not mean that Kang-Gatto’s instructions are not to be questioned. The artist eschews the role of definitive authorship by sharing her videos on YouTube and offering us instead a genuinely subjective interpretation of each of the given recipes. Sharing with the camera, with the public, with people she knows and does not know, does not come across as a one-sided authoritative gesture, in the same way following the recipe is not an expression of a purely reactive and humble manner.
Ultimately, it’s about more than just food when it comes to the performative character of cooking—it’s about the connections that are formed and the stories that are told in the process. It’s about how language and movement, the sensory as well as the technical, directs and describes experiences. It’s about potential and the possibility of creating our identities, communities, and histories together through cooking and the exchange of food.
We watch, we cook, and we eat. At what point do we take over the recipes, voices, and instructions in order to create our own?
Text - Agustina Andreoletti
Ji Su Kang-Gatto (b. 1989) completed her studies at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf as a master’s student of Lucy McKenzie in 2013. She completed her postgraduate studies at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne in summer 2021 with her work Vlog 8998, under the supervision of Prof. Matthias Müller, Daniel Burkhardt, and Prof. Dr. Lilian Haberer.
Her works have been shown at numerous exhibition sites and film festivals, including the São Paulo International Short Film Festival and the IMAI Foundation at the NRW-Forum Düsseldorf. Kang-Gatto received the academy scholarship for painting at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and a work scholarship in South Korea, funded by the Kunststiftung NRW. In addition, the “Experiment” section at the 31st International Short Film Festival in São Paulo was dedicated to her work Identities and Recipes. As the director of Identities and Recipes she was also in the official selection / Aviff Cannes Art Film Festival 2021 and won third prize.
MOOZ has previously featured another episode from Identities and Recipes: How to cook Miyeokguk
