◦ branch collect, with oros, 2021
at jogging, marseille
branch collect is a series of seven wire slicers made from branches foraged from different regions, developed by chen for local ware: cooking edition, a collaborative curatorial project between marseille-based oros and chen's own studio.
"rooted in the rigorous research into the similarity in cooking culture between europe and asia, i looked to tofu, my favourite food, for inspiration," chen has said of the piece; "i later discovered the process of tofu making shares a lot in common with cheese making, which is an important part of french/mediterranean cuisine" — both cut not with a blade but with taut wire, pulled through the material.
chen looked to the branch as the natural counterpart to that mechanism: a forked or curved piece of wood already holding the tension and leverage a wire cutter needs. several foraging trips were made in search of branches with the right structure, out of which seven were selected and strung with wire, each offering a different angle, reach, and gesture for cutting.
when not in use, the slicers are mounted in individual wooden frames and hung on the wall, shifting from tool to specimen — an invitation to notice the engineering already present in a branch's natural form, rather than one imposed on it.
![]()
![]()
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
the exhibition
shown alongside three other newly commissioned cookware pieces by chialing chang, guillaume bloget, and rio kobayashi, co-curated by laure amoros at jogging, marseille, 24 september – 7 october 2021, supported by the national culture and arts foundation of taiwan.
