Lumpy Hedonism is a series of food and drink rituals to narrate and celebrate trans experiences of performance, community, and growth. Produced by Danielle Naylor, it critiques the abjection we experience from society, and instead shows the beauty of self-determination.
It consists of three stages, the first is one of vulnerability and being observed. The second, newfound community and warmth. The third is a sustainable, quiet growth.
First come the whiskey tumblers, with enamel irises. When the drink they are designed for is prepared, a slowly melting sphere of espresso forms a pupil which watches you as you drink. The cup is ice cold to the touch, and the more you hold it, the more bitter coffee notes melt into the drink. However, the more you move it, the more sugar dissolves into the whiskey; the experience is, literally, bittersweet. The key here is the agency – your actions decide your experience, within the bounds already defined by the drink.
Next is the coffee ritual, based around an Ethiopian style coffee pot. Green coffee beans are roasted, ground, and brewed, then poured into scarred silver cups. The coffee pot itself is fine silver, sculpted into a torso with gold foil to represent oestrogen patches. While the previous ritual was based on cold temperatures, this one is based around heat – vital, sometimes intolerable, and requiring care to handle safely.
Finally, the third ritual settles down into a slower rhythm. Where the first two take minutes or hours, this one spans weeks, as the secret contents of a pickle pot grow and ferment into something more than the simple vegetables which went in. This is the making of the self – the combination of agency and safety, and makes something more, something exciting.