Why is it rude to slurp noodles? Why is it bad manners to eat with our hands? Why don’t we eat every part of an animal?

We love this installation over in the US by Brooklyn-based artist Shawna X. A  series about all the beautiful slurping and mess made from eating all those noodles and dumplings and other ‘foreign’ foods. (F*** Your Manners is a renewed appreciation of mannerisms deemed foreign and rejected by the Western Gaze) . We also love Shawna’s glorious appreciation of the female body, tropical palette, multimedia mix up and all-around sensual lust for life that street food gives.

Once ashamed of her parents’ eating manners, Shawna X was inspired to make the work in F*** Your Manners when she discovered her deeply internalized guilt and shame in connection to her relationship with her parents, her perception of their seemingly obvious foreignness, down to their eating manners.

“The exhibition features a sculpture of an 8 foot tall mouth with a 14 foot long tongue, surrounded by large inflatable balloons and accompanied by five print works and video compilations. It’s a multimedia outpouring of artistic inspiration that packs both Shawna’s signature palette and a well-deserved punch. “I focused on eating habits that are deemed impolite by the western gaze, but accepted in my culture: slurping noodles, chewing loudly, eating with your hands… Beyond the concept, the final install was derived from my innate desire to experiment outside of my comfort zone.”  – Working Not Working

“I am Inspired by Imperial Chinese textile design, poetry by Richard Brautigan, “Unbearable Lightness of Being” by Milan Kundera, and 70s Italian architecture ” – Shawna X

“Ode to a soup dumpling”

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