Jasmin Ozturkkan Menda

A Good Day To Eat With Your Senses

Eating is often reduced to taste alone, yet it is always a full sensory experience, one that involves touch, movement, and material interaction. This project explores how the act of eating can be extended beyond the mouth, translating qualities such as softness, tension, and density into physical objects and surfaces. By shifting focus from flavour to sensation, it questions how we perceive food and how the body engages with it.

For me, a good day is one where eating becomes slower and more attentive. It is about noticing textures, the way something resists or gives, and how the hand, mouth, and body move together. I think of moments where food is being touched, dipped, or held: small gestures that are usually overlooked. These interactions are what I find most interesting: they are intimate, repetitive, and quietly expressive.

“Relish” consists of a series of wearable eating tools and a sculptural display that organises them in space. The tools are designed to be worn on the fingers, transforming the act of eating into a more tactile experience. Their forms range from smooth, rounded surfaces to flatter, more controlled ones, allowing different types of interaction with food. Rather than functioning as conventional utensils, they guide how food is approached, touched, and consumed. The display supports this interaction by presenting the objects in a way that encourages selection, repetition, and participation. Together, the work frames eating as a sensory and bodily act, emphasising the relationship between gesture, material, and experience.