This article was taken from the December 2013 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
You can think of Alexa Perrin as the Professor X of foodies.
Through her organisation, the Experimental Food Society, she has assembled a team of 54 uncanny culinary talents. Their powers are diverse: there's Emily Crane, a "gastronomic tailor", who makes clothing from comestibles; John van der Put, who performs magic with edible props; Carl Warner, who turns food into whimsical landscapes. Small teams of members work on commissions from adverts to art shows, but on November 8, at east London's Truman Brewery, they will unite for a two-day "Spectacular".
The society originated in what Perrin considers a dark age for cooking. "Five years ago I set up my own food-and-drink PR company," says the 35-year-old Londoner. "I felt there was nothing going on that excited people." She met Harry Bompas and Sam Parr, makers of architectural jellies, and began thinking about food art. It's Elizabethan in tradition, but it ventures into new fields: the Spectacular will include "SenseNation" which explores how sound affects taste, as well as a "breathable tearoom" courtesy of Le Laboratoire's David Edwards.
Click through the accompanying gallery to see some of the Experimental Food Society's extraordinary creations.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
