豆腐门市部
Tofu Salesroom
植南门市部特别项目：
Plant South Project:
植物选修课 - 豆腐学习
Plant Studies Elective - tofu learning

开幕 Opening: 2025.4.3（四） 19:00
展期 Duration: 2025.4.3 - 4.30
地点 Location: 啥空间，杭州市邮电路28号 Schein Space,28 Youdian Road, Shangcheng, Hangzhou

点击查看“这是现场” Click for Installation View

关于艺术家 About the artist

植南门市部成立于2021年，作为一个目前有六名成员的合集，专注于植物人文研究和公众面向的互动。从创作、旅行到对谈，我们的实践如菌丝般日渐月染地生长，希望以此探索知识与日常经验之间的模糊边界，从而促进不同群体之间更为亲密的对话。

Plant South Salesroom, formed in 2021 as an assemblage, focuses on plant humanities studies and community-based interactions. Ranging from creations, journeys, to mutual conversations, our practices subtly develop a mycelium network for grassroots, to provoke intimate responses towards the ambiguous territory of scientific knowledge and everyday experience.

在植南门市部往期的项目实践中，通常以专题研究的方式展开，例如《菠萝流浪史》、《柑橘蜜史》等，顺着案头的线索，我们得以走进田野的海洋，让湿润的、苦涩的、甘甜的潮水涌向我们、经过我们、成为我们。在这个过程中，我们意识到了，我们无意成为菠萝或柑橘的植物专家——或者说我们还远远不够——对于我们而言，更急切的问题是如何展开对于植物的讨论，如何认识植物与我们的关系。与此同时，我们也在视野的聚焦和失焦之间感受到了对于“植物与地方”研究的复杂性：在附近、地方、日常的研究热潮之中，我们是否过分强调关于植物的私人记忆，将其视为一种个人、家庭、地方的产物，从而无法回应植物的流动性？如果植物已经遍布我们的日常生活，为何我们要强调“植物的本土与产地”？植物的原来样貌固然有趣，但我们为什么要跳过植物的“当下”，一直回到植物的“过去”？

或许，这是一种“研究病”。

豆腐是个极好的例子，因为它普遍，且技术掌握在民间。以至于知识权威站在豆腐石磨前，也会感到手足无措。当我们看到一块冰冰凉凉豆腐的时候，饭桌上总有人要说起大豆的起源与地方文化的璀璨，拜托，等你说完，豆腐都温了。饮食文化的研究者，首先得是饮食文化的爱好者，这么朴素的道理居然还要反复提及。我们能不能先从豆腐的口感、做法、风味的细微差异入手，再来谈你的豆腐梦？

黄苗子曾在《豆腐恋情五章》一文中写过：“如果给豆腐的家族编一份家谱，它的支派是可观的：大豆（黄豆、黑豆）是它的祖宗。大豆制成豆浆，产生了豆腐和腐皮（腐皮是豆浆煮热时凝结在上面的表皮，晒干了出售，就是佐餐的美味腐竹）。豆腐经过加工成为豆腐干、千张、油豆腐（也叫做豆腐泡）、酱豆腐、腐乳……单是一种豆腐干，也因地域习惯不同，配料不同，制法不同，就产生出各地区各品种的特殊风味。全国的豆腐，大约可以有千种以上的制法。”而这些信息，老百姓心中也都有杆秤，若是有人在那边掉书袋，他们可能会说：“好啦好啦，要不要来我家吃自己磨的豆腐，跟外面的不一样！”

所以，也许以选修课的心态进行植物学习才对味。作为植南门市部的特别项目“植物选修课”，每一课依然以某一种与植物相关的“东西”展开，与以往的专题研究不同的是，我们试图建造一个可以讨论的空间，你可以来这里阅读、放空、聊天，不要再像海绵一样吸收信息了，放轻松，像海浪一样滚来滚去就好！

In the past project practices of Plant South Salesroom, we have typically engaged in thematic research, exemplified by projects like A Nomadic History of Pineapple and Making Citrus. Following the threads laid out on our desks, we ventured into the fields, allowing the moist, bitter, and sweet tides to surge towards us, through us, and become us. During this process, we realized that we do not aspire to become botanical experts on pineapples or citrus—or rather, we are far from it. For us, the more pressing questions lie in how to initiate discussions about plants and how to understand the relationship between plants and ourselves. Simultaneously, amidst the shifts between focused and unfocused perspectives, we sensed the complexity of research on ‘plants and places.’ In the current surge of studies on proximity, locality, and the everyday, are we overemphasizing the personal memories associated with plants, treating them as products of individuals, families, and locales, thereby failing to address their inherent fluidity? If plants have permeated our daily lives, why do we insist on emphasizing their ‘native origins’ and ‘production sites’? While the original forms of plants are undoubtedly intriguing, why do we bypass their ‘present’ to constantly revert to their ‘past’?

Perhaps, this is a kind of 'research malady.'

Tofu serves as an excellent example, given its ubiquity and the fact that its techniques are deeply rooted in folk practices. So much so that even a knowledge authority, standing before a tofu stone mill, might find themselves at a loss. When we see a piece of chilled tofu on the table, someone may invariably begin to expound on the origins of soybeans and the brilliance of regional cultures. Come on, by the time the speech is finished, the tofu will have warmed. A researcher of culinary culture must first and foremost be an enthusiast of culinary culture—a simple truth that surprisingly needs reiterating. Can we perhaps begin with the subtle nuances of tofu's texture, preparation, and flavor profiles, before delving into your tofu dreams?

Huang Miaozi once wrote in his Five Chapters of Tofu Love, ‘If one were to compile a family-tree of tofu, its branches would be remarkably extensive: soybeans (yellow and black) are its progenitors. Soybeans, when processed into soy milk, give rise to tofu and beancurd skins (the layer that forms on the surface of heated soy milk, dried and sold as beancurd sticks). Tofu, through further processing, becomes dried tofu, thousand-layer tofu, fried tofu (also known as tofu puffs), fermented beancurd, and stinky tofu... Even dried tofu alone, due to regional customs, different ingredients, and diverse preparation methods, yields distinct flavors across various regions and varieties. It is estimated that there are over a thousand ways to prepare tofu throughout the country.’ While all these sayings carry their own weight among the populace; if someone were to flaunt their erudition, people might just retort, ‘Alright, alright, would you like to come to my home and taste some homemade tofu? It's quite different from what you get outside!’

Therefore, perhaps it is more fitting to conduct plant studies with the mindset of having an elective course. As a special project of Plant South Salesroom, ‘Plant Studies Elective’ will have each session still commence with a ‘thing’ related to plants. However, unlike previous thematic research, we aim to construct a space for discourse. You can come here to read, decompress, and engage in conversation. Refrain from absorbing information like a sponge; instead, relax and let yourself roll like the ocean waves!

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啥空间 Schein Space

柳浪闻莺驻留第十一组：Théo FarrugiaOSWAR: Théo Farrugia

过往项目 Past Projects

柳浪闻莺驻留第十一组：Théo Farrugia
OSWAR: Théo Farrugia