Che fine ha fatto K?

What happened to K? interprets the intent of the exhibition “Sottovoce” by offering an openly provocative reading of the kitchen within the domestic space, using it as a pretext for a critical examination of contemporary society. Referring to the Kafkaesque character from “The Trial,” from which the installation takes its name, searching for K means asking how the ritual of the table, our relationship with food, and tradition have changed. The convivial banquet gives way to consumption, with a gradual replacement of the “dish” by single-serving containers.

The busy preparation of meals, depicted by Marten de Vos in “Cooks in the Kitchen,” is replaced by an investigation into the minimal and flexible systems of Joe Colombo’s “Minikitchen” (1964), leading to the disappearance of the preparation space in favor of the consumption area. As the kitchen progressively shrinks within the domestic space, the dark and ghost kitchens of increasingly popular platforms (Glovo, Just Eat, Deliveroo, etc.) expand the preparation space, completely abandoning the consumption space. K has lost its physical component in favor of apps, smartphones, tablets, and computers, which have become the virtual interface and indirect tools for cooking, replacing traditional utensils.

Considering the preparation of food as te sum of gestures, aromas, sounds, but also moments of conviviality that make it a social experience,  What happened to K? prefigures the kitchen environment in a deliberately provocative way, imagining a dystopian future in which it loses its physical component in favor of cell phones, tablets and computers that become virtual interfaces and indirect tools for cooking food, in place of traditional utensils. 

The starting point is ongoing research that involved participation in “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape. New York 1972 – Venice 2019”, and in this context, it takes the form of a site-specific installation with the aim of reversing the relationship between artwork/furniture and the surrounding “domestic” environment. The kitchen becomes an object to be exhibited and preserved, while the container transforms its content into a work of art.

The display case both protects and conceals. It is as if it surrounds the kitchen, as though trying to contain and preserve it, but inevitably hiding it in the process.

It is the display case itself that determines the status of K as a work of art, particularly in its disappearance. This operation is reminiscent of empaquetage, where the object is disguised and, by losing its figurative features, it becomes a work of art. In this sense, K does not lose its meaning but rather takes form through its very disappearance. The case stands between the utensils and the human being, who cannot use them but can only observe them. Splayed openings punctuate the surface of the box, directing the observer’s gaze towards the “museumified” kitchen and the utensils used for food preparation.

What happened to K?  is a critical interpretation of contemporary society, customs, and rituals. It is an attempt to envision new developmental trajectories.

What happened to K?  is a display case that both protects and conceals. It separates from tactile interaction but allows visual engagement.

What happened to K?  is the staging of an unprecedented representation of the kitchen within the domestic space, which becomes dimensionless, dynamic, and adapted to human needs.

What happened to K?  is both a question and, at the same time, an answer.