Dishing out data: Project uses food to represent information

Digital visualiser Moritz Stefaner and arts collective prozessagenten, process by art and design, have created Data Cuisine, an innovative approach to visualising information. The project initially took place as a workshop in Helsinki before recently moving to Barcelona.

The data covers social, political and cultural issues. Dishes on the menu include Emigration Fish, First Date Noodles, Happiness Cocktail, Spiced Foreigners Between Pasta, Taste of Migration, and Art and Language in Lentils. The quantity of ingredients is the primary way of presenting the information. The Unemployed Pan con Tomate dish represents the growing numbers of unemployed young people in Spain by reducing the amount of tomato in the recipe and replacing it with garlic.

According to the website, the creators are excited by the ‘culinary variables’ that could offer alternative ways of translating the information, citing 3D sculptural possibilities, taste and texture as original ways to visualise data.

For more innovative projects that are employing food creatively, read our Seed on computer-designed food created by IBM.