Touch That Taste!

The project Touch That Taste! started by Martyna Barbara Golik’s fascination for combining two worlds: textiles and food.

More specifically, food was categorized by the five main tastes: umami, sweet, salty, bitter and sour with an idea of designing a collection of five interior related textile objects where each of the object is a translation of one taste.

In order to get data to work with, a group of 10 people was undergone a synesthesia-inspired experiment where each of the person had to eat and smell representatives of five tastes and try to translate these experiences into vision and touch. After analyzing outcome of the experiment data was collected and used for experimenting with materials and techniques and creating various textile samples which later on where used to make the final collection. The collection is focusing on combining different materials and techniques. Function and design of each of the objects is related to analysis of the experiment with the group and research about food, senses and synesthesia.

The collection consists of a carpet for umami, meant for exploring its different structures and textures with bare feet, that combines technical felt, tufted woolen yarn and rubber part; a pouf for sweet which is slowly coming down while seated creating feeling of sinking in, made of memory foam and quilted upholstery. The blanket/chair cover for sour comes into life in movement creating a beautiful structure and encourages to come into interaction with it. It is made of woolen fabric and liquid rubber. The room divider for salty invites user to interact with it by changing/adding/removing its layers and marks changeability and adaptability to different spaces. It combines woolen and polyester fabrics. The shoes for bitter being soft and heavy at the same time making it hard to walk. Made of foam and felt, each of them weighs 2 kg.

The collection tells a story about how abstract can be turned into tangible, about how experience with food can be translated into a functional collection with focus on experiencing the objects and creating relation with it.

Touch That Taste!
Design: Martyna Barbara Golik