Art and Cake

I've been asked to go on a local radio show in a few weeks to talk about the Cake Liberation Front which is very exciting. My friends and I like to use cake as an outreach tool when we can. Here's a couple of art projects I've been involved in that featured vegan cake!

Cake Liberation Front launched itself at this event last November at The Bed In at the Bluecoat at Bluecoat Gallery in Liverpool. The Bed In was a series of events to mark the anniversaries of John Lennon's birthday and assassination. Each day the bed hosted a new action by performers, artists and activists. We spent a lovely Sunday there and gave away over 200 samples of vegan muffins.

Lots of people stopped to chat and were interested in finding out more about vegan baking. People were really curious to know how it worked without eggs and milk and how we got the muffins to rise. We gave out Vegan Society and Animal Aid leaflets and recipe sheets and the whole event was live on the internet and then also available as a podcast.

This event was at Greenroom in Manchester as part of a launch for Larkin About . Larkin About host a series of games events throughout the year which get people experiencing the city in a different way. On the table is a vegan cake map of Manchester made by members of the Loiterer's Resistance Movement. The LRM is a Manchester based collective of artists and activists interested in psychogeography who meet on the first Sunday of every month to go for a wander of some sort and who also organise occasional festivals, exhibitions and shows.

We used around 300 cupcakes and each one was attached to a photo of a place, structure or space in Manchester. We asked people to let us know if their choice was 'consumed with love' or 'devoured with hate'. This made interesting reading as people told us their feelings and memories attached to the physical environment and these were then used to map out a further walk.

Even when the event is not specifically linked to veganism, it's good to have some literature available because undoubtedly conversations arise when people sample vegan cake for the first time and realise how good it can be! Have you seen vegan cake used in any unusual ways?