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Alyssa Gerasimoff




In 2020 I graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a degree in Furniture Design and Sustainability Studies. I am now in my first semster pursuing a master’s degree in Food Studies at NYU and questioning if I made the right decision. I have come to realize that I am a design thinker and perahps my masters degree should be in a design field.

I love to work in all mediums, 3D, 2D, digital and am always trying to explore new materials and technologies. I lived in Berlin, Germany for two years and after figuring out my career in NYC I hope to move back. If you want to add me to your team or offer some advice please don’t hesitate to reach out. 


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INFINITE-MART





Presented here is a concept for an installation that devel- oped from a body of academic research I completed about food deserts in the United States. Coming upon the quote by philosopher Harald Lemke which inaugurated this docu- ment, “The truth is that the future of humanity depends on nothing else as crucial as on the infinity of food,” brought me to contemplate the perception of an infinity of food ex- perienced by middle and upper class Americans. This instal- lation is a humble commentary of a vastly complex issue. It was intended to be fully constructed and to be the only piece of this thesis. 

However, the emergence of COVID-19 closed university buildings and restricted access to studios. Therefore, for now, it exists only as a concept and computer model. Since the piece is meant to confront issues of food inaccessibility, I felt it was not appropriate to continue de- veloping it during a time when grocery stores have become points of stress and food restrictions a reality for a much wider demographic of people. Hence, the images and pro- cess shown here are a representation of the work complet- ed up until the middle of March. I have taken this time to develop a complimentary project and keep myself up to date on ways in which this pandemic has revealed not previously known flaws in our global food system.

SKETCHES




COLLECTED IMAGES


Be-Lo Market
 Norfolk, Virginia



King Kullen
 Long Island, NY



Shop ‘N’ Save
W. Mifflin, PA

Screenshots from various food processing Youtube videos

RHINO MODEL



CONSTRUCTION


For ease of fabricating, the skele- ton of the installation is construct- ed with readily available 8'x4' MDF sheets and pinewood 2"x4"s. The mirrors would be large sheets of glassless mirrors (which are com- monly used for performances and trade shows) that are attached to the side walls via two rows of heavy duty z-bars. The method of construction is based off of that of theatre set flats.

FINAL RENDERINGS



Structure




Illusion


I wish that the circumstances could have been different and that this project did not exist only digitally. I intended the form and the construction to be simple, because the illusion was to hold the center stage. But on a computer screen the illusion is lost. I wanted the viewer to grapple with multiple sensory inputs, visual, olfactory, maybe even evoke memo- ries of taste. My rendering skills in combination with the digital pixels of your screen simply do not have the same power. I hope however, that having the chance to read my research and intentions and look at my source images gives this work a different kind of dimension that would have been hardly possible in a studio critique and gallery setting.

You can read more about this project, the research, and development on pages 30-53 of my bachelor thesis book, Empathies of Consumption.

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