kthread / Kristen Taylor

mosaics and music, food and the cloud

In my last post, I included video, slides, and the rough transcript from my presentation last weekend in Linz, Austria for Ars Electronica as part of the Cloud Intelligence Symposium.

In curating the symposium, David Sasaki also created “An Outsider’s Guide to Linz.” This post is an extension of his excellent guide with video and a heavy emphasis on food. (You can also find places David marked in Dopplr’s Social Atlas for Linz with geocoordinates.)

My Linz trip began with a burger in Cafe Walker that David didn’t mention would arrive with hidden corn kernels,

and later that night, through the drizzle as I walked out of the Haufplatz (the main square), I spotted my friend Seth Hunter.

Joining him and his fellow MIT artist Noah, we were off to fetch their bags from their installations, then to Italian restaurant Bigoli in nearby OK Platz (order the gnocchi), where Seth taught us how to make origami butterflies and we talked about the food of the future:

Back in the Haufplatz, young dancers in white unitards tucked glow sticks into their hair,

and then the lights went off, darkening the entire square, the better to see the glowing dancers move glowing balls to the other side of the street.

Friday morning, the market bustled in the same square (so much speck!),

and I bought a superlative cream-filled pastry with a hidden meringue layer,

thinking about food photography as I prepped for my talk (video) at the Ars Electronica: Cloud Intelligence Symposium the following day.

While the rain continued, I went to see the Ars exhibits for inspiration. A few of my favorites (also see my friend Ethan’s favorites):

a typewriter of images:

open sailing, a project about a floating community that models sustainability,

an LED abacus,

a skeeball marimba installation,

Arthur Ganson’s piece with scraps of paper winging their way,

and my very favorite, the geotextile mesh “Hylozoic Grove” by Philip Beesley,

that sensitively moved as you entered its translucent, shimmering space, brushing against branches.

Later that night, artists shrinkwrapped themselves as part of the Ars Gala,

and David toasted to the following “arscloud” symposium in classic style,

I had a wonderful tagliatelle at Cafe Lentos (highly recommend) with local chanterelles soaked in butter with steak and crunchy bits of sea salt, while Ethan had a Sicilian pasta with a large sardine,

and outside, the Ars Center pulsed with light patterns into the night.

In the clear morning, I could see rooftops and the Danube sparkling,

before I meandered around the organic grocery to find yogurt and granola to fly through last-minute revisions;

as part of the day’s proceedings at Ars on cloud intelligence, we asked all the “arscloud” symposium participants to hack their lunch (using fancy fast food as a model), and the winner made a CloudWurst (he explains):

After a full day, I opened my window to watch people mingle next to the river,

happy and tired from a long day of thinking about clouds and intelligence with this smart group,

and I stopped by a few sweets vendors on the way to group dinner,

purchasing a tangy yogurt cream pastry,

before traditional Austrian food (I had a black seafood risotto) at Alte Welt,

and then fireworks

and fire works (listen for Juliana’s take on this particular pile of flames).

The next morning, I wandered Linz, peering through open doorframes,

and admiring the fineness of the pale architecture (that almost has an icy tone to it, heavy on the glass),

watching those walking,

under crosses,

and past buildings with glittering, embedded religious mosaics,

on my way to the park,

and the buildings beyond,

On my way back, I found door handles shaped like pretzels,

more traditional Austrian for lunch,

and traditional dress to complete the lesson.

Before a trip up the mountain for dinner, I had gelato with David (hear what he discovers his favorite flavor is),

then it was time to meet gnomes,

follow them on signs,

to this restaurant,

where we all liked the pumpkin seed cheese best,

until the first course at the castle arrived,

consuming all our attention until (at least for me), this table sat down,

and there was birthday fire.

The next morning held pastries with Ethan and David,

this last is David’s favorite, and he felt it would power a longer morning run in the Austrian hills with Teddy of Project Diaspora (a former Ugandan Olympic hopeful in the decathlon),

and asking slightly less of other pastry, I purchased the Brandl Bakery version of the famous Linzer torte for the office, heading off to discover shaggy pastel marshmallows,

glistening jellies,

and an exhibition of recovered mosaic pieces from places of worship,

that included twinkling ships.

From the mosaiced currents, I opted for a fish sandwich a few doors down,

and wandering further, like a siren song, organ chords drew me into an old cathedral,

where I watched sunlight fill more and more of the pews as an unseen organist played on into the afternoon, sounds I carried with me back to Brooklyn…

Mica :
September 11th, 2009 at 7:42 am
I haven’t had a chance to watch the video of your presentation yet, but I loved all the pictures from Linz. What a great mixture of old and new! And, of course, the pastries look hard to beat!
Kristen :
September 11th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Thanks, Mica. Linz is the first Austrian city I’ve visited, but I hope to see Vienna in the next few years for more pastries! It’s a great place to run, my friend David tells me—
Dana :
September 11th, 2009 at 10:05 am
I really dig the LED abacus – sounds like it was an amazing conference.
Mr Gamer :
September 11th, 2009 at 10:55 am
the foods look totally delicious. The cake reminds me of Brazo De Mercedes, a cake that tastes like leche flan with egg white fluffs as a layer
Holly from Sustainable Suppers :
September 11th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Wow wow wow!
Woman. I leave you alone for five minutes, and you go get an amazing new life.
Do you need, like, a lackey? A wench? A sherpa?
I volunteer.
P.S. South Beach is markedly less colorful (less pastel?) without your beauteous, luscious, energizing presence. xoxo
Kristen :
September 11th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Dana, it was, and the LED abacus was a really lovely way to measure.

Mr. Gamer, it was delicious food, and now I’m researching Brazo de Mercedes, which sounds amazing.

Holly, so great to hear from you! Miss you and your company on travels in any capacity would be fabulous. Your blog has been wearing beautiful things lately, as it usually does, and so nice to see you sleep next to tall stacks of books too! xoxo—