FERMENT[cheese] is is a multimedia performance/presentation/tasting exploring milk’s leap into cheesehood. The project utilizes field recordings and oral history from the cheese making process, focusing on cheeses produced from John Taverna’s Jersey Cow Diary. The recordings and cheese come from the same source, with a focus on terroir, taste, and experience. The project has gone through a number of iterations and reinterpretations to fit a variety of performance contexts from museums to people’s homes. The project is the result of a collaboration between cheese maker, Sue Conley of Cowgirl Creamery and Chris Kallmyer. Mark Allen was instrumental in encouraging the collaboration, which was born out of support from Machine Project and Cowgirl Creamery alike.
FERMENT[cheese] from machine project on Vimeo.
June 18, 2012
San Francisco, CA
with Machine Project and Southern Exposure
The piece was performed in the kitchen of Tyson Daugherty & Vanessa Critchell. Each member of a forty person audience received a personal cheese plate featuring three cheeses. Each cheese received its own sound pairing: the first cheese being divided in five parts, each taste was given a different sound performed on cowbells and rebar by Chris and Scott Cazan. The second cheese focused on terroir — spatialized recordings of the cows that produced that cheese as well as curd draining, cheese aging, and cheese wrapping at the Cowgirl’s facilities. The final cheese was paired with an oral history recording from Vivian Strauss of the Strauss Family Creamery. The voice was then processed through a guitar while people tasted and listened to Vivian’s memories of growing up on the farm.
April 21, 2011
Berkeley, CA
with Machine Project
At the Berkeley Art Museum the event featured a multi-channel sound installation, a roving quartet of musicians, and a milk-to-cheese tasting curated by Sue Conley of the Cowgirl Creamery. When visitors walked in they were welcomed by cheese mongers who manned tables featuring fresh milk, fresh cheeses, aged cheeses, and a curds and whey demo. Dairy pioneer, Albert Strauss of the Strauss Family Creamery was in attendance to talk with visitors about his farm, the process of raising dairy cows and qualities that make great milk. Sue spoke about the cheese making process and Chris played a concert inspired by fermentation with TempWerks, the roving ensemble of musicians.
May 16, 2010
Los Angeles, CA
at Machine Project
Sue Conley, cheese-maker and founder of the Cowgirl Creamery and sound artist Chris Kallmyer have developed a multi-media collaboration based on their mutual love of cheese and the fermented arts. At this event, Sue speaks on the art of cheese making, the sustainable qualities of artisan and farmstead agriculture, and share tastes of fresh milk, young curd, and aged Mt Tam. During the lecture/tasting/concert, Chris will provide music to eat cheese to: Incorporating field recordings of John Taverna’s Dairy and the Cowgirl’s facilities with trumpet, harmonium, and cowbells in six-channel sound.