Dishwashers
« Singapore's culture of eating is a culture of eating out (…) Statistics can be interesting, and they so tell a story, but words best capture the vignettes of every life. For most Singaporeans, maka (the colloquial term for « eat ») means many things : it is about the flavor and presentation of the food, the quality of the service and the spontaneity and casual style of dining. It is about convinience and easy availability, and most importantly, the affordability of the food » Lily Kong, Singapore Hawkers centers.
The Singapore segment closes with a trio of large format drawings which is a tribute to an important figure in Singapore’s street food culture network: The cleaning staff, which is part of the
quality of service which is talked about above.
These "aunties" and "uncles" clean tables and wash cutlery and dinnerware with the same cadence in which the numerous dishes parade. Most of the times, these people are between the age of 50 and
70. People with a particular gestural richness (in fact, in 2008, they were the basis of a mini series of postcards called Hawkers and Foodcenters) which tend to be quite discrete, almost
invisible between both noise and aroma.
In Dishwashers, each of these three characters portraits an eating utensil: a cup (with motifs typical of old hawkers), a Chinese spoon and chopsticks. Each character is elated with elaborate
attire, with motifs which repeat and reiterate the utensil which it represents: It is a way to give them light and prominence. The format was also designed to give them back their magnitude (1.5
m.)
The insertion of an eating utensil is proposed as an instruction and this idea was taken directly from some linings of disposable chopsticks in which the instructions for use are drawn and which
are not of great help while trying to grab a noodle with them!