THE OCTOPUS WAFFLE LAB deals with current social and political questions surrounding nourishment.

By exploring food culture and -heritage, food superstitions and the meal as nourishment on several parameters, the project creates a platform for discussions of the growing environmental challenges concerning nutrition - i.e., protein production, eating habits as well as our rational and emotional connection to certain foods.

This project uses the OCTOPUS as an underlying mood generator; at the same time a symbol and a practical example of the topics addressed in the exhibition.

These curious sea animals survived while the dinosaurs died and have undergone a completely different evolutionary development than us humans. They are like aliens on Earth or as unsolved questions to us: They have no bones, but 3 hearts and 9 brains. They have a chameleonic ability to change colour according to their surroundings but are themselves colour blind. And they can taste with their entire body!

Picture the octopus with its eerie eight arms, many suckers and mysterious performance, which through time have awakened horror and fear but also exercised a mysterious and supernatural attraction, often with sensual and erotic undertones. The many myths, legends and artistic descriptions often play on a balance between horror, pain and death on one side and pleasure, desire and lust on the other. Should one be scared or eager to learn more about this animal?

The massive Hafgufa [sea-mist], who "swallows men and ships and whales and everything it can reach" is described in the old Icelandic Saga "Örvar-Oddr". This creature is based on some kind of tetacled mollusk, and gave rise to the myth of Kraken (a legendary cephalopod-like sea monster of gigantic size in Scandinavian folklore).

As for the myth of the giant octopus sea monster - Iceland is where we started our journey.