Tuesday, March 28, 2000
Can-do attitude builds food bank
BY JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Whoa, talk about recycling. Yesterday it was a can of peas. Today it's art. Tomorrow it feeds people.
Referring here to third annual Canstruction, a competition wherein local architectural firms build large artsy works with food products — more than 18,000 pounds, says Jan Vasiliadis, one of the organizers.
The show, sponsored by the American Institute of Architects and the Society of Design Administration, opened at a do last week in the Aronoff's Weston Gallery. But with nine entries was so large it spilled in to the theater's lobby.
No wonder. What you got here is your peas 'n' corn, cereal and Kool-Aid, still in packaging, turned into art. Such as the punny Can Film Festival, the Jack Rouse Assoc. entry that won best of show. It's a film projector made from boxes of au gratin potatoes, canned veggies and Kool-Aid packets with a movie running in the belly of the beast.
Did we say beast? McGill Smith Punshon's Foodzilla, made from Wyler's Lemonade packs won Best Meal.
Did we say meal? Opening nighter Maggie Weymeyer didn't: “Using peas for art is great. Much better than actually eating them.”
The show is up through Sunday., Then the food goes to the FreeStore/FoodBank.
SKATE ON: How about a round of applause? Clap it for a batch of skaters just back from the Junior National Figure Skating Championships in Amherst, N.Y.
All are members of the Northern Kentucky Skating Club, making a body wonder what's going on over there, what with all these winners.
• Winners such as Cincinnatian Mary Siegel, 11, the new national champion in the Juvenile Ladies division. She wowed the judges with a double jump-double combo.
• Or how about Samantha Skavdahl, 10, of Villa Hills? She won in two events: Bronze in Juvenile Ladies and silver with partner Jordan Brauninger, 13, in Intermediate Pairs. Their throw double-loop sealed the deal.
• Then there's Ben Woolwine, 16, of Fort Wright, silver medalist in Intermediate Men. He landed two triple jumps and a double axel, double toe loop combo.
See what we mean? Something's up over there. Maybe it's Stephanie Miller and Ted Masdea, who coached all the winners and have coached national champions the last three years in a row.
HEY, DAVE: One more round of applause, this for Cincinnati's Millennium Marketing's Paul Kreft.
Seems he worked with Dave Thomas, as in Wendy's, and ad agency Bates USA to crank out Dave Thomas — A Decade in Advertising, 120 pages documenting 10 years of Wendy's commercials.
The book (it's not for sale but may be soon) is photos by ex-Associated Press photographer Robert Levite. Kreft and colleague Kevin Pease selected 100 photos (out of 3,500), did design, captions and handled the printers (“A Chinese firm. Not easy,” he says).
The plan was to place it in Wendy's stores only, but it may go public now because of the reaction . . . like this: “I got a call from Bob Evans down on the farm, requesting copies. What do you think they want with it?”
Hmmmm. Sounds like a sequel: 10 years with Bob or something. After one of these: ClapClapClap.
Knip's Eye View appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
KNIPPENBERG ARCHIVE
