Ananas Ananas

Los Angeles-born Elena has a background in graphic design and art direction. Coming from an Armenian background, she was raised by women who were homemakers that implemented a culture around the kitchen. As a child, she recalls having a set dinner time with her family every night. There, they created a safe space to delve into discussions and overcome obstacles together. Since then, sitting around the dinner table has made her feel safe to open up and be vulnerable.
Verónica, an industrial designer with a Northern Mexican heritage, finds inspiration in the way food relates to our cultural and everyday journeys. Her work aims to communicate the rich history behind the craftspeople of Mexico and the preservation of traditional and handmade techniques. As a child, she was taught to see food as a way to bring people together.

It’s actually a funny story we always love to tell. Elena met a girl in LA before she moved to Mexico City that had a friend living in Mexico City, so she connected them. That friend put us two in touch, but we never heard from her again. We ended up setting a day to cook at Elena’s house for fun, started talking, and realized we shared so many of the same goals, references and love of food art. It was an interesting cosmic pull that brought us together. Then it took us about a month to organize our thoughts, moodboards, website, social media, etc., and Ananas Ananas was born.

We had both noticed that there aren’t too many events or dining experiences where critical thinking goes into the way we eat. We see pop-ups and big productions of food ‘museums’ that do a very good job of creating spaces to immerse yourself, however, it’s never edible. As designers and lovers of food, we wanted to create a studio that catered to this new artistic way of immersing and eating food.

Our goal as a studio is to showcase food representation as a universal language. The way we approach food shapes us as individuals and socials. We seek to organically communicate that. We chose this word (Ananas) because it’s universal. It’s the scientific word for pineapple, which is used in every language except for English.

When strangers are put in a situation that is a unique food experience, there is automatically a common ground, so human connection is inevitable. In our testing phases, we discuss how we want our guests to feel when they walk into the room.

Art and food are no different for us. Both are political acts that define us as individuals. Some people can argue that food is only a means for survival, but if you really sit and think about where everything comes from and how our planet creates these beautiful pieces and fruits, vegetables, etc., a whole new world of appreciation opens up.

It requires a great deal of patience to build the installations, which has been such a learning curve for us. It’s complex to assemble, and more likely than not, the first three to five times, it will break or not hold. But the key has always been to keep trying, be as prepared as possible, and run different tests to have it nailed down.
As far as preserving the food, our events are usually one day long, and we are strategic about what we leave out and what foods last longer. More likely than not, we have our amazing team that constantly sanitizes and replaces foods in the installation when guests come and go, so it technically doesn’t stay out for long.

One day. We’ve done weekend exhibits over the course of two or three days, however, it’s always taken down, cleaned and reinstalled the next day.

When you experience one of our installations, you receive a special once-in-a-life-time work of art. We always say that our work is temporary and needs to be enjoyed mindfully and in the present moment. It’s a chance to immerse yourself into what is happening then and there because it will be eaten and the only things left over will be crumbs. It’s very romantic if you think about it.
We’ve discussed working ‘the regular way,’ showcasing pieces at galleries for guests, curators and collectors to buy and experience in their homes. But it’s not something we are prioritizing since we have chosen to perform as a live act more than a collectable piece.

We pursue to question certain understandings about our relationship with food. Should I eat it or is it contemplative? Is it ok if I go first and grab it with my hands? Should I share it? These are some of the questions we see in people’s eyes in every single one of our installations. We can say it works as a way to soften people into their most vulnerable state and talk about that with the people around whether they know each other or not.

We do everything together from start to finish – we don’t really know how, but we created a fantastic duo. Of course, each one has her strength, and that’s the beauty of working together on everything because, this way, we’re constantly learning from each other.

Food has always been something that brings people together and unites. We don’t want to change that in any way but acknowledge it as an artistic piece.

Our biggest dream would be to take Ananas around the globe. Our goal is to showcase this type of art in galleries and museums and play with the notion that the art that lives in these popular places can be temporary, it’s just material. When you go into a gallery and see beautiful works of art, you can’t touch them or feel that sensory experience with the piece. We want guests to feel our pieces and better yet, eat them!