The Mealworm Experience
The Mealworm Experience is a workshop / experience based on the BoeteBurger Project. The BoeteBurger Project is a speculative scenario of a hamburger made from mealworms that have lived on a polystyrene diet. Imagine, eat your own waste.
The Experience consists of a presentation about the project, what it is about and the experiences I have come across in working with living organisms and the questions that arise from it. I want to share these experiences with the audience by holding a workshop after the presentation.
Getting to know the mealworm and seeing how they eat a harmful material such as styrofoam is an amazing experience that I want to convey, but also takes time. That is why during the workshop people get an introduction with the mealworms to get to know them and eventually they take a jar with mealworms to experience at home over the course of weeks how they use the polystyrene foam.
Type: Workshop, experience
Partners: Kunst & Cultuur Drenthe, Club Cele
The workshop is done with a number of participants divided over 1 or more tables. These tables are covered as if for a dinner, but with tools instead of cutlery. Styrofoam is spread over the table and there is an installation with mealworms that have been eating Styrofoam for some time. After the presentation, about a kilo of mealworms is poured over the table and the participants get the chance to get to know the worms up close. With the tools that are there they can then design and make their own Styrofoam palace that they put in a pot, similar to a ship in a bottle. With a handful of mealworms, some extra food and a seal on the pot, the worm house can then go home to see how it is eaten over time.
The intention of the workshop is to provide an interactive experience that pleasurably challenges people to make contact with another life form. I try to pass on my own experiences with the project to others and in this way I want the participants to think about the future of sustainability, our relationship with nature and our relationship to food.
The workshop has been conducted several times at, among others, Zwollse Theaters and Kunst en Cultuur Drenthe with great success. This is done in a 1-hour or a 2-hour version, but is tailor-made for the wishes of the client. An extra option is to take a short break with an appetizer in which mealworms (or other insects) are processed for people to taste.