E5: Senshai Valley#142378

Mukaka Munch

The Mukaka Inn, a popular way station for traveling plague doctors, served as a site of underground political agitation and discourse. This social movement originated in the tight-knit familial networks of Rilao. Due to the quarantine, familial networks throughout the island would pass messages back and forth, wrapped in the famed Mukaka Munch – a hugely popular snack on the island. Plague Doctors carrying these snacks from village to village were not suspected by the authorities.

Collaborators

Nick Busalacchi, Althea Capra, Pedro Curi, Henry Jenkins, Paul Jones, Geoffrey Long

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A1: Laoguna#142161

Rilao Island Water Supply

In addition to inventing the Fluther, another inventions is an artistic water supply solution to one of the now over-populated Rilao islands is a gigantic polymer dome covering the entire island. With the current extreme global warming it acts efficiently as a still to produce plentiful fresh water for tall the island’s inhabitants. The distilled water runs down the inside walls to a circular rim collection system and the shaded dome ceiling provides a fine background for attractive holograms and other projections to entertain the islanders.

Collaborators

Donald Moore, Habib Zargarpour

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H8: Green Bite#142116

The Sweet Breath of Lao–Dessert Living

Threatened by the sudden influx of outsiders, Rilaoan families spend increasing amounts of time in the Green Bite catacombs, returning to an ancient family ritual. The ritual celebrates the life of loved ones upon their death. Under Lao tradition, when a follower dies, the family makes desserts based on the deceased’s life. If the life was good, the desserts are sweet; a troubled life is celebrated with bitter desserts. The Law is that the truth must be told.

Trading Muka tree oil for sugar, the once-abandoned catacombs become transformed by elaborate constructions of chocolate and candies.

In this photographed tableau, the life of a child is celebrated in the form of a coffin made of candy and encrusted by various treats. A death mask at the head of the coffin captures the essential spirit of the beloved. Large posters of children playing surround the the coffin, to reflect on the happy times in the child’s brief life. At the end of the ritual, the dessert is handed out, and the body is given to the sea.

Collaborators

Emily Howard, Cory Rouse, Rory Fellowes, Andreas Kratky

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