The Chromatic Dinner

Each course is designed in a different color, taste, smell, texture and sound to create a five-course chromatic dining experience that matches western design with eastern philosophy.

The project's research stems from studies in Synesthesia, a perceptual condition in which the stimulation of one sense triggers an automatic, involuntary experience in another sense. The project asks the question: If colour can create emotion, can that emotion and colour be enhanced by combining it with other senses? Part of the ongoing investigation is to see how a combination of these senses can create different emotional and social responses from the guests through the course of the evening and heighten the gastronomic experience.

After premiering at Mediamatic, the Chromatic dinner travelled to the L.A. Design Festival and then to Rotterdam, at Het Nieuwe Instituut. They supported the project by commissioning new unique design pieces from dutch designers: Cedric van Parys, Funda Baysal, David Derksen and Mae Engelgeer which are included into the concept of the dinner.

Through an interdisciplinary approach, artist and stage director Martin Butler combines various disciplines such as dance, theatre, music, film, design, performance, new media and fashion. Trained in drama at Manchester University, and then later choreography and performance at the SNDO in Amsterdam, he has been creating performance work at various theatres and festivals internationally.

His new media and installation work has been shown in the  Palais de Tokyo, Istanbul Modern, Beijing Design Week, Los Angeles Design Festival. Sant Pau Recinte Modernista Barcelona, European Media Arts Festival in Osnabrück, Fundación Telefonica in Lima, Istanbul Design Biennale, Amsterdam Museum, Pixxelpoint Festival in Slovenia, Olympus Photography Playground, Berlin, shaded view on fashion film festival, Centre Pompidou Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in Arnhem, Marres, Maastricht, Salon Amsterdam and Mediamatic, amongst many others.

In 2016, he developed and directed the successful new opera based upon the life of Gianni Versace with German musical ensemble Brandt, Brauer, Frick for the Deutsche Opera, Berlin and recently co-curatored and designed the Gianni Versace Retrospective exhibition in the Kronprinsenpalais in Berlin.

Vegan chef, Alexander Gershberg, was born in Russia, raised in Israel and is currently based in Amsterdam. He founded Vegan Sundays, with which he organizes pop-up events and cooking workshops. As a chef, he has always been interested in more than just taste, concerning himself with the way in which food also influences life in a broader sense.

In collaboration with Het Nieuwe Instituut, Mediamatic, Seattle Design Festival, Gather Seattle, Imperfect Produce, Mathews Winery.