Final Project

Coffee Organs..................Kelsey Calder....................ARTE 119: Intro to Creative Research

Coffee is such an integral part of a person’s day, provided that they drink coffee, but we often don’t give the caffeinated beverage a second thought. My research started by thinking about a person’s relationship with coffee; the daily ritual of brewing your own coffee or running through a drive-thru to grab a cup on your way to work or classes. Free coffee is provided at almost every workplace and we see coffee shops on almost every street corner.
I dived into the history of coffee; the beverage is older than recorded history. I looked into how the chemical make-up of the drink affects our body. I also explored coffee culture and the daily rituals people partake in surrounding caffeine.

If nothing else, I became hyper-aware of my own coffee consumption.

I went back to my original thought; coffee is such an integral part of a person’s day. I wanted to create something that represented that thought – people are dependent on coffee.

The final product is a diptych painted in coffee on hot-pressed water colour paper. The first is a depiction of a brain, the second, a heart. The two paintings are done with a mix of instant coffee and water. Coffee was applied in layers to achieve darker colours. I chose to add white highlights with a paint marker and coffee drips for aesthetic reasons. Working with coffee as an artistic medium was tricky; it's similar to watercolour but darker colours are harder to achieve. Although, working with coffee smelled fantastic.

I chose to document the pieces on a simple black background with some coffee related embellishments - the cup of coffee, instant coffee grounds, and the brushes used to create the pieces.

The subject matter ties into the idea that people are dependent on coffee; they need the substance to jumpstart their brain and heart. It also ties into how coffee really affects our bodies. Caffeine has a ton of benefits, including alertness, improved brain function and memory. However, it can also negatively affect the body and worsen things like anxiety or cause headaches. I personally felt like the brain and heart are the organs most affected by caffeine consumption, the brain is more alert, and the heart starts pumping faster.

Overall, I'm super happy with how this project turned out. I plan to work with coffee as a medium again in the future.