A performance duo comprising Paul Peters and Alex de las Heras, has specialized in gastro-artistic synesthesias since 2013. In our performances, cuisine practices are marinated with abstract political subjects simmering just below the boiling point of a sensory delirium.
Our immersive scenographies, playful costumes, the suggested games, the plating, and the act of ingesting the ‘food’, all come together in our shows.
Seeking to become in every show a critical reactor in the tips of one’s tonque, gula gula employs food language to roll on stage with joy, much like a whopping giant salt shaker.
Fantasy Island
Gentle Wave by the artist Sarah Zucker, known as @thesarahshow,
was a generous delight for us with its utilization.
Fantasies, once unleashed, must be fulfilled. In the interlude between the first and the second CD19 Lockdowns of the population in 2020, «Fantasy Island» emerged as a mesmerizing and immersive spectacle, extending a captivating invitation to its audience to embark on an enchanting odyssey. This fantastical journey was replete with interactive elements and captivating visual displays.
An audiovisual and choreographic voyage in a wonderland of palm trees, waterfalls, rites of passage, white sand and white suits. A place where hand-shaken cocktails are being sung, and magical realism piggybacked on a whimsical drama performance with a tiki tiki ambiance, distant drum beats, jubilant gibbons, unicorn projections, and playful dolphins laughing.
The performance gracefully unfurled its enchanting tapestry at the doorstep of the renowned Ars Electronica Festival’s SOUND CAMPUS 2020, held from September 9th to 13th by the University of Art and Industrial Design, and curated by Enrique Tomás. Here, attendees were greeted with tickets that offered the enticing prospect of winning both the teleportation to the Metaverse and a freshly made Pinky cocktail, all within the enigmatic realm of «Fantasy Island.» This realm had been meticulously projected within the ethereal realms of the Metaverse, a social and public virtual environment for sound art exhibition and concerts, especially oriented towards examining the state of experimental sound practices at universities and research centers.
This extraordinary experience was orchestrated by integrating a blue chroma key setup and dressing in blue suits. These visual elements collectively invited the audience to partake in a multi-sensory and kinesthetic journey that transcended typical visual limitations. Enhanced by various visual technologies and experimental sensory elements, such as fragrances and visual cues evoking specific tastes, it offered a captivating sensation. It made the audience feel as if they were transported into the boundless realms of the Metaverse, surpassing physical constraints and exploring sensory and kinesthetic phenomena. This seamless blend of advanced visual tech and experimental elements cast a spell of wonder, enveloping spectators in a rich tapestry of sensations and visual marvels that transcended the ordinary and expanded the horizons of perception.
«The spectacle united the domains of live interaction and multimedia, all draped in the thematic allure of ‘Fantasy Island.’ It beckoned the audience to immerse themselves fully, to embrace the enchantment, and to savor the surreal ambiance that this singular and enthralling show had meticulously crafted. It was as if the audience had embarked on an entrancing journey of piña coladas, a dreamscape where the boundaries between the tangible and the digital seamlessly merged, creating a novel and captivating sensory adventure.»
Lorenza Alpinehart, Pinky cocktail Winner.
The Geek Chefs
The Geek Chefs was a television cooking life show starring the eclectic artist duo gula gula. The show was known for its unique blend of «espainsterreichish» dialect, a playful mix of Spanish, Austrian, and English, and its laid-back style, challenging the notion of fixed identities and embracing the fluid and dynamic nature of culture. It was also known for the use of jumpy, and experimentally risky playful kitchen skills, such as dousing with liquor a few computer condensers and flambéing them for a show-biz dramatic visual presentation.
The menu for the performance included dishes like «Raspberry Pie,» «Floppy Schnitzel,» and «Gebackene Mäuse» (Austrian traditional sweet fritters made out of computer mouses). Overall, «The Geek Chefs» performance combined elements of humor, experimentation, and entertainment with a hint of absurdity, making it a unique and memorable experience for the viewers.
In the spirit of absurdism, «The Geek Chefs» defied the logic of traditional cooking shows, where the objective is to create edible dishes, and instead introduced absurd and surreal elements, like cooking computer parts. This was meant to create a sense of the irrational and absurd, which could lead to new and unexpected insights, as well as new dishes, who knows.
The Geek Chefs performance took place during ‘Sankt Interface Fest 2017’, an artistic festival organized by the Interface Cultures Department at the University of Arts and Design Linz. This festival also doubles as the annual celebration of our department. It’s worth noting that the festival’s timing is not a mere coincidence; it aligns with the ninth of December, a date of historical significance, as it commemorates the same day in 1968 when Douglas Engelbart delivered his renowned conference, now famously known as «The Mother of All Demos.»
Exotische Provinz
Due to the first Clemens Denk Band concert outside of Vienna, gula gula welcomed the band to their Exotische Provinz City of Linz, embracing its globalized cuisine filled with imported goods.
For this event, we designed a dessert inspired by the band’s album covers:
The Clemens Denk Band’s Favorite Black Sesame Ice Cream on a Beetroot Sauce.
We also crafted a façade of a würstelstand using wood and recycled cardboard boxes, echoing the same shabby aesthetic found in Clemens Denk Band’s videos and songs. ‘Aber der Sound ist gut und der Geschmack wird es auch sein.’ — But the sound is good, and the taste will be as well.
Fetish for Food
Glory-Hole Wall by Graffiti Artist KEOS
We were honored to receive an invitation to perform our innermost longings in the »TransPorno. Porno, trans and Artistic Practices Festival 2014», an integral component of the Symposium dedicated to exploring the multifaceted intersection of queer identity, post-feminist politics, and the realm of performance. This event was hosted at the University of Art and Design Linz, offering a platform for both theoretical discussions and artistic expressions within this context.
Our proposal was to play across slimming fantasies; caressing minds and prejudices with a shocking and disturbing food language. We wanted to perform innermost longings. For this purpose we built a glory hole room from which we fed our public a lucious concept menu based on porn practices, textures, and unconventional flavors. Through the mouth-holes of the graffiti wall we offered a slimy mucus threesome of Aloe, Gin and Kiwi; a dildo made out of spicy lychees, and a penetrating cheesy bouquet among other creations.
It’s important to acknowledge that the performance we delivered during this festival was profoundly intense and unconventional, pushing the boundaries of… well, the conventional. It was so wild and unapologetic that exists no documentation that could truly encapsulate the experience, besides two pictures that depict what I believe to be a scene were we are shaving each other in order to use our bodies as plating surfaces. What remains is the documentation of graffit artist KEOS painting the Glory-Hole wall, the other performances which took place, and the vivid memories etched in the minds of those fortunate enough to have been present. If you are intrigued and curious to learn more about this audacious performance or wish to delve deeper into the realms of our artistic expressions, please don’t hesitate to reach out, and we’d be delighted to share more insights and experiences.
