Jasper Morrison - Basel Chair - Presentation

Presentation: Eleonore

Medium and Value: Morgane

Style and Originality: Adrien

Expression and Signification: Nathan

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Medium

When you look at this chair, it seems to be a classic wooden one. But actually there is a crucial innovation: it is not only made of wood but also of plastic. I will explain that by saying how we can reproduce it.

You have to take a piece of beech from which you make the base frame of the chair it means everything that is beige. (Picture: red Basel Chair) Then to make the seat and the backrest, you need ASA plastic (acrylonitrile styrène acrylate plastic) dyed throughout. But there is a very notable way to join the plastic elements to the wooden base. While the thin plastic seat is fixed to a load-bearing wooden ring by an ingenious plug-in mechanism – without the use of any screws – the back features two web-like vertical projections that are inserted into precision-milled grooves of the elongated rear chair legs. As a last detail, you can add glides for carpets or alternatively felt glides for hard surfaces. Of course, you can use different types of beech and different colors of plastic but it is Adrien that will talk about that later on.

Thus, you know how to reproduce a Basel Chair but I’m quite sure you prefer that someone else does it and then you go and buy it when it is finished. So for that we have to see the quantitative aspect value of the Basel Chair to know a little more about the production and distribution.

Value

The Basel Chair is designed by Jasper Morrison for Vitra. It is Swiss manufacturer. According to their web site (http://www.vitra.com), it “is a furniture company dedicated to developing healthy, intelligent, inspiring and durable solutions for the office, the home and for public spaces.”

The Basel Chair is produced in Germany, in one of these two production sites: Weil am Rhein or Neuenburg. They don’t say a lot about the production of the Basel Chair, for example I find nothing about the costs of production but I look around and it seems that beech and ASA plastic are not very expensive. But Vitra really insists on its efforts when it comes to sustainability. In their website, they have a whole part about it and in the instructions for use of the Basel Chair they say “We prioritize the long service life of our products, seek to ensure that parts subject to wear and tear can be easily exchanged, and wherever possible use recyclable materials.” It also matters for Jasper Morrison that thinks designers have to create products that must last: “Thanks to the explosion of media coverage, much of today’s design is eye candy, looking for its place on the page of glossy magazines rather than solving any problems or addressing the bigger picture of what makes a successful design in the long term.” Jasper Morrison in an interview for Vitra, available in the website of the company.

Now, these efforts to create a sustainable product seduce you and you want to buy it. In the website of Jasper Morrison (http://www.jaspermorrison.com/html/9316679.html), they give the address of a shop: 24b Kingsland Road London E2 8DA. You can also go to the webside of Vitra: you give your country, your region and they direct you to a local dealer that you can contact to know the price and the availability of the product. But you can also buy it online. It is around 320 euros or £220, £240 on website as http://www.lamenuiserie.com in French or http://momentumstore.com/ where there is a discount if you are interested.

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Style and originality

One can easily think that this chair looks like any classical and sober wooden chair. One might think that it has no personality. Nothing could be more false.

Let’s have a more precise look at it.

First both the bottom and the back are finer than the usual, thanks to the plastic material. This makes it more comfortable.

In addition, the shape makes it hard for the sitter to slip over: the back is curved and the bottom too, ready to receive the sitter.

Furthermore, the bottom is maintained stuck with the wooden structure without screw: they fit together. A similar principle is used to make the back and the back feet fitting together.

The absence of obvious screw gives the Basel chair a smooth personality. It looks sweeter than an classic kitchen chair.

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Expression

What is it used for and how does it function?

As a chair, I think everybody knows what the Basel Chair is used for… Maybe as… a chair…

We have seen with Adrien and Morgane that this chair is particularly comfortable so that that you maybe use it more than other chairs but I don’t know exactly what your relation with chairs is…

The instructions for use of the Basel Chair say: "In compliance with due diligence and the law Basel Chair may be used as an office swivel chair only. Should it be used for other purposes there is an increased accident risk (e.g., use as a climbing aid)."

We see the importance of using the object not only as an art object and that makes me come to the most important of my part about expression in which we will actually see how Morrison puts a stress on the importance of the design object first as an everyday life object.

Signification

A complete concept design is expressed through the Basel Chair. In short, Morris concept of design has the following characteristics:

Objects must be functional, creations are not only visual but are also objects with which we live and that we use (à Organization in 2009 (Arts décoratifs) of the exposition “take a seat” in which visitors can seat on 21 different chairs, not only look at them). The Basel Chair is functional, it is comfortable and simple.

Object must be authentic and simple. Morrison is an inconspicuous designer. His Basel Chair is a revisited version of a classic the wooden chair. It is rather simple and sober. In this video we can see how he emphasizes the importance of usefulness of the object. He also considers that object should not be spoilt with ornaments and we can see that with the Basel Chair. With that conception, he is in line with the Japanese Mingei movement (1920s 1930s in Japan = objects must be used by the masses, functional in daily life etc.) and with the views of Adolf Loos (end of the 19^th century Austrian designer who puts a stress on the fact that modernity implies deletion of ornament).

This concept of design expressed through the Basel Chair is embodied in the concept of supernormal design.

“Design, which is supposed to be responsible for the man-made environment we all inhabit, seems to be polluting it instead. Its historic and idealistic goal to serve industry and the happy consuming masses at the same time, of conceiving things easier to make and better to live with, has been side-tracked.”

Pleasure and signification that is given to objects does not entirely come from design but also from their day-to-day use. That is why with Naoto Fukasawa (Japanese guy who designed electronic devices) they created the exposition super normal that was in Bordeaux Last Year.

The Basel Chair is something that conveys well this point of view. As opposed to current “design objects”, the Basel Chair also gives pleasure through its use. We can say that beyond the normal vision of the chair, the Basel Chair is supernormal…

To conclude my part I would like to wonder why this chair has been given this name “Basel Chair”. Is it an allusion to the city of Basel which is known for modern art.

Jasper Morrison - Basel Chair - Research

Presentation: Eleonore

Medium and Value: Morgane

Style and Originality: Adrien

Expression and Signification: Nathan

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You should look at the website of Vitra, the firm that produces the Basel Chair: http://www.vitra.com/en-gb/

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Jasper Morrison and chairs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzpzO4ia8rw

and a report on his exhibition in Bordeaux in le Musée des Arts décoratifs:

http://culturebox.france3.fr/all/16198/exposition-super-normal-du-designer-jasper-morrison-au-musee-des-arts-decoratifs-de-bordeaux#/all

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Style and originality

One can easily think that this chair looks like any classical and sober wooden chair. One might think that it has no personality. Nothing could be more false.

Let’s have a more precise look at it.

First both the bottom and the back are finer than the usual, thanks to the plastic material. This makes it more comfortable.

In addition, the shape makes it hard for the sitter to slip over: the back is curved and the bottom too, ready to receive the sitter.

Furthermore, the bottom is maintained stuck with the wooden structure without screw: they fit together. A similar principle is used to make the back and the back feet fitting together.

The absence of obvious screw gives the Basel chair a smooth personality. It looks sweeter than an classic kitchen chair.

Expression

What is it used for and how does it function?

As a chair, I think everybody knows what the Basel Chair is used for… Maybe as… a chair…

We have seen with Adrien and Morgane that this chair is particularly comfortable so that that you maybe use it more than other chairs but I don’t know exactly what your relation with chairs is…

The instructions for use of the Basel Chair say: "In compliance with due diligence and the law Basel Chair may be used as an office swivel chair only. Should it be used for other purposes there is an increased accident risk (e.g., use as a climbing aid)."

We see the importance of using the object not only as an art object and that makes me come to the most important of my part about expression in which we will actually see how Morrison puts a stress on the importance of the design object first as an everyday life object.

Signification

A complete concept design is expressed through the Basel Chair. In short, Morris concept of design has the following characteristics:

Objects must be functional, creations are not only visual but are also objects with which we live and that we use (à Organization in 2009 (Arts décoratifs) of the exposition “take a seat” in which visitors can seat on 21 different chairs, not only look at them). The Basel Chair is functional, it is comfortable and simple.

Object must be authentic and simple. Morrison is an inconspicuous designer. His Basel Chair is a revisited version of a classic the wooden chair. It is rather simple and sober. In this video we can see how he emphasizes the importance of usefulness of the object. He also considers that object should not be spoilt with ornaments and we can see that with the Basel Chair. With that conception, he is in line with the Japanese Mingei movement (1920s 1930s in Japan = objects must be used by the masses, functional in daily life etc.) and with the views of Adolf Loos (end of the 19^th century Austrian designer who puts a stress on the fact that modernity implies deletion of ornament).

This concept of design expressed through the Basel Chair is embodied in the concept of supernormal design.

“Design, which is supposed to be responsible for the man-made environment we all inhabit, seems to be polluting it instead. Its historic and idealistic goal to serve industry and the happy consuming masses at the same time, of conceiving things easier to make and better to live with, has been side-tracked.”

Pleasure and signification that is given to objects does not entirely come from design but also from their day-to-day use. That is why with Naoto Fukasawa (Japanese guy who designed electronic devices) they created the exposition super normal that was in Bordeaux Last Year.

The Basel Chair is something that conveys well this point of view. As opposed to current “design objects”, the Basel Chair also gives pleasure through its use. We can say that beyond the normal vision of the chair, the Basel Chair is supernormal…

To conclude my part I would like to wonder why this chair has been given this name “Basel Chair”. Is it an allusion to the city of Basel which is known for modern art.

The Basel Chair : an archetype?

This is not the first wooden chair of that style being designed. It was probably partially inspired by two classical European wooden chairs : the School chair, and the chaise de bistrot.

(you can also check out this website : http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/francais/arts-decoratifs/expositions-23/archives-25/jasper-morrison-take-a-seat/)

I also found a picture of my IKEA chair Nordmyra, which was probably designed before 2007 (the designer stopped working for IKEA in 07), and which has some ressemblance with the Basel chair (produced in 2008). Hence, we can see it is a variation of a traditional pattern.

Chaise de bistrot (a model which appeared in the 1920s)

Chaise d'école

Nordmyra - IKEA (design by Joacim Gustavsson)

The Envelope

So, I'll do the qualitative aspect: style and the quantitative aspect: originality of the envelope but I have something that could be useful for you Nathan, for the medium: all the vocabulary of envelope manufacturers.

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Have you ever wondered...

Which envelope size is right for me?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njEq7Dj8L54&feature=related

Envelopes and their functions :

*Containing a letter/a document with the intention of sending it through the mail

Different envelopes for different objects/fragility/rapidity

Closing it and writing the address, sticking a stamp.

Traveling : this is the noblest part of the envelope’s role : unlike the letter, the envelope can handle to pass through the postal system without getting torn or damaged.

Opening it : generally deadly phase of the envelope’s life when it’s function is to travel. But not always, it can be used again as a storage place. (see next function)

*Storing things – regrouping things :

Envelope are often used (whether envelopes especially designed for this purpose such as this envelope to store pictures, or mail envelopes that are given a second use after they have been opened) to organize pieces of papers/bills/pictures, because of their practical size. In that case, they usually left opened or closed with a material which can be used several time (eg : the glue used for picture envelopes does not wear off, it can therefore be opened and closed repeatedly.)

*giving out something which must remain hidden

This function is what developed the use of envelopes : letters used to be folded, the seal came to prove the letter had never been opened before.

What must be given can be a love poem, someone's last will, or some money, or the name of the winner in a ceremony. It can also be the subject of an exam, or even a greeting card, because greetings are sometimes hard to voice out.

In many countries, envelopes are used to give money discreetly in some special occasions. In China, these envelopes are red. An envelope with money is not always sealed, for instance my grandmother never closes them for some reason, and she also uses smaller envelopes than those she would use in the mail. Hence, we can see that this function is distinct from the two others.

Signification :

We can see three clusters of meaning for the envelope :

*One related to the secrecy of a message kept by a cealed envelope. ==> love & death.

Death :

• The White Stripes : Death Letter (also the Gift by the Velvet Underground) ;
• Death Letter Blues, Geoff and Maria Muldaur
• Death Letter, Son House

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO4RUeyt8mY

Hamlet and the reversal of fate thanks to the seal of Denmark he possesses.

Love : Durher’s work suggests the secrecy kept behind closed letters. It also show to what extent envelopes and letters are related to the genre épistolaire.

open with no possibility of going back. i.e. from ignorance to awareness of a certain fact. The person holding a closed envelope can ignore the importance of the news he is conveying (like in Death Letter). Because it is a boundery, envelopes tend to be neglected after they have revealed their secret.

*One linked to circulation, flow, movement

Return to sender, Elvis Presley

The lyrics do not suggest the same things about love then other works linking mail and love ; here it is more about transitory aspect of love relationships. Also, the envelope switches function. It is first a protection for the letter which goes through the mail ; then it turns into a way to deliver a message without voicing it out loud. (The envelope, again is the boundery : the girl refuses to open it in order to avoid the awareness of the boy's excuses).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU5xxh5UX4U

Mail Art and Air Mail Dress

"A l’image de la «Air Mail Dress» en 1999 de Hussein Chalayan qui une fois repliée, se glisse dans une enveloppe intégrée à la robe (ci-dessus).Issue d’une collection de vêtements de papier, cette robe se replie sur elle-même pour prendre la forme d’une enveloppe prête à poster. L’expéditeur peut donc imprégner cette robe immaculée d’une double empreinte : celle de son écriture et celle de son corps. Le vêtement est ici assimilé à un conteneur du corps et à un contenu de la personne. Il s’agit de se raconter."

The Air Mail dress as all paper dresses and clothes, is designed to be short-lived. It suggests the volatility of concrete things, and is designed to be in movement.

*Dimension of exchange : Mail art & a historical development from the 60s onwards made the focus go from the inside (the message) to the outside (the form and the envelope)

Reflexion on Art : an exchange ; relation between form and message

"L'art entre dans la vie quotidienne et valorise les rapports humains. Ces mouvements artistiques aimaient se moquer de la rigidité de l'institution postale. Le chef de file des futuristes, Marinetti, considérait le Mail Art comme « une offensive contre la transition académique, à la conquête de la modernité rêvée ». En adressant par la poste ces « œuvres d'art », ces artistes détournent les circuits traditionnels des musées, galeries ou institutions diverses et subvertissent le fonctionnement du marché de l'art."

J-M Folon exprime l’idée que l’art est un échange dans lequel l’artiste propose quelquechose aux yeux des gens, qui doivent à leur tour l’enrichir avec leur propre vision.

Mail Art Today > Nada Zero http://nada.zero.free.fr/

Mail Art Accross the World

The Envelope

We meet envelopes everyday when we open our box letter, and we even see envelope on our laptop screen when connecting to our on-line mailbox since nearly every email server uses this picture somewhere.

Envelopes are everyday-life objects surrounding us; we all have one or two envelopes on our desk or table waiting to be put in a more appropriate place or waiting to be opened.

As an envelope is a packaging hiding a secret content, we are always excited and worried about what is in it. Whose name is in the envelope the foreman of the jury for Oscars is opening? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hTTwSQPmMo min 7 ou http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A87InzywZOY) What is in the envelope the postman just slipped under the door, will that be a new bill to pay or a love letter from a secret admirer?

We might also wonder what the future of paper mailing, and so of envelopes, might be whereas more and more people use e-mailing.

Medium

First of all, what is it basically and what is briefly the history of the envelope?

Most people know or at least think they know what an envelope is, however, it is crucial to describe a bit what it is.

It is used mostly for packaging letters, messages or small objects before sending them. It allows the item that is sent (1) to be protected from any damage and also (2) to be kept secret, or at least out of the direct sight of the person who delivers it.

Pre-made envelops that we use today developed during the 19^th century thanks to machines that produced them. Different forms were experimented and nowadays lots of different kinds of envelopes exist.

Second, what is an envelope made of?

The envelope is usually made of paper, whatever its color (usually white). However, cardboard is another very used material, but not as much as Kraft paper which is notably used to make big envelopes supposed to contain a lot of things, indeed, Kraft paper is very resistant. In this sense this is a very simple object as this is usually made of only one major raw material.

However, it is nowadays current that envelopes be improved with a stripe of glue which enables to close it.

There are some exceptional envelops that are made of recycled paper and some super-hero envelopes that are protected by an armor of bubblewrap or quilted.

Finally, how can we reproduce it using its raw materials?

Usually, industrial envelopes are cut and stuck so that they are given the shape and dimensions desired. Creating an envelope is also all about folding paper… There is a whole technical jargon used by industrials to designate the different parts of an envelope… But is it an art to create an envelope?

Value

In France, the price of an envelope is on average 15 cents…

[For the part that follows, I only found data about Europe and I will therefore concentrate more on this part of the World, however, the figures that follow can give an idea about the world production of envelopes.

Sources:

• Website of the European Envelope Manufacturers Association (FEPE) (http://www.fepe.org/)
• A Microsoft study about messaging published by Radicati, available online: http://www.axigen.com/articles/introduction-to-antispam-practices_19.html]

There are 34 envelope manufacturing groups around Europe that are members of the association. These members cover 95% of the European Market for envelopes, i.e. more than 90 billion envelopes per year.

About 70% of the total European production is sold in the UK, Germany and France and here we can see the importance of those countries for the market for envelopes. If this market is large in Europe, we can consider and will assume that it is large too for the whole world, because envelopes manufacturers are located everywhere throughout the world… A Wikipedia source says that around 450 billion envelopes are produced each year, but this source cannot be really relied on.

Envelopes are mostly machine-made and the machines are more and more performing but also very expensive. A modern machine can produce 1200 envelopes per minute…

However, an envelope is made of paper and even though this paper is often recycled, sending paper letters could be seen as an unsustainable way of communicating in the internet era. The paradox is that this fact has not affected a lot the global sales of envelopes, as the following graph goes...

We see that, in Europe at least, the production of envelopes has only decreased of 10 billion in 7 years, which is not very high when we look at the progress of emailing.

We can see that the number of “serious” e-mails has not increased a lot. The increase in the E-mail traffic is mostly due to spamming. One conclusion that can be drawn is that people remain relatively loyal to conventional paper mail, even though the number has dropped… That could explain the relative stability in the amount of envelopes produced.

Style

What does the envelope look like and how does it differ from objects of the same family?

It looks like paper. But it is much more than mere paper because it is folded in a very special way in order for it to hold all kinds of things. However, as paper it is very flat and we have the same impression of lightness. I

According to what they are made of, envelops do not have the same aspect: kraft paper seems less smooth .

Color: They are usually white or brown but there are envelopes of all colors, for example in the web sitehttp://www.worldofenvelopes.com you can have 35 colors.

Type:

They can even have a window.

Then, what is the size of an envelope? It also depends. According to the international standard, the smallest envelop is 114mm-wide and 162mm-long and the largest one 28 x 40 cm. This envelope (the catalogue one) is 22.9cm x 32.4 cm and this one is 11cm x 22.

When you want to send a letter, you can just look at the size of the envelop in front of you and see if it will hold what you want to put in it or you can do complicated computations depending on the size of the letter and how many times you want to fold it. Indeed there is very standardized system of envelops size. This particularity brings me to the quantitative aspect originality of the envelope.

I will answer to the questions: what makes this object unique and sets it apart from identical objects? Is this object inviolable, or what, if anything, makes it sacrosanct?

So I was talking about very precise sizes of envelop which depends on the size of the paper that you want to put in it. Indeed there are very strict system and classification of envelopes that give the envelope recognition. It is an object we care about. So there are all the different types of envelopes I talked about (catalogue, seam side…) so a precise classification. There is also one for the size. The international standard paper sizes ISO 216 categorizes papers: A4, A3 according to very precise criteria, the ratio between the width and the length must always equals the square root of two. For the envelope we use the C series. So the envelope is unique since it has its own classification.

Similarly, some envelopes are unique because if you don’t use the right envelope for this type of letter and weight, the Post won’t send your letter. So the dimensions, weight and measurements for postal requirements should be known beforehand. If sending an envelope of non-standard size, additional postage may be needed. It is better to know international size standards when mailing envelopes to other countries. Since some countries may not support all the sizes.

Another element that makes this object original is that we can’t use it alone. Indeed, you don’t buy an envelope or use an envelope for its own sake. It is necessarily used with a letter, a card, pictures or whatever you want.

And finally, if at the beginning, when you buy a pack of envelops, they are all the same, completely identical, once they are used, they become unique. Indeed, an address is written, there is a stamp, a postmark and what they hold is different.

What about eggplants?

Qualitative study of the eggplant - Session 2 (February 3rd)

Medium:

What is the medium of an eggplant? What is it made of? How can it be reproduced using its raw materials?

Eggplant (Latin name: Solanum melongena) is a plant of the family of nightshades or solanaceaes (and therefore a cousin of tomato, and potato).

It is cultivated in temperate countries (where it is planted every year because it is not frost resistant) as in tropical ones (in which it stays alive the whole year: it need not be planted again). It comes from a wild species of North Africa and the Middle-East that was domesticated around the beginning of our era and that mutated and developed then. The species that is mostly spread today originates from India and Burma. It needs heat to be able to grow (it stops growing under twelve degrees) and that is why in temperate regions, it is commonly cultivated in greenhouses until danger of frost is over. Producing countries are not only southeastern Asia countries as China or Indonesia but also southern Asia countries such as India and Burma and northern Africa countries as turkey. All countries produce some eggplants but those quoted before are the most important.

In Europe, widespread eggplants are oblong and have a dark purple skin, for example, the “Little Fingers” variety. But other species are spread in Asia and the rest of the world that are more spherical and smaller with black, green or even white skin. It shows that there are a lot of different varieties and x who will talk about style will tell us more about that.

How can it be reproduced with its raw materials?

The Eggplant can be divided into four different parts.

• The flesh which has the consistency of a sponge and which must constitute around 70% of the vegetable.
• The skin which is not really solid but almost of the same consistency as the flesh. However, it is rather smooth. It covers the whole flesh so that for dark purple eggplant for instance, no white part can be seen.
• The seeds which are mostly situated in what could be designated as the center of gravity of the eggplant (rather on the larger side of the vegetable.)
• Finally, the stem (peduncle, usually green and spiny) covers the smallest and thinnest extremity of the eggplant. It is usually difficult to take it away from the vegetable.

Eggplants have style...

There exists many different types of eggplants, which vary extremely in color, size and shape.
Eggplants originally come from India. The first variety of eggplants that arrived in Europe were ivory-colored and ovoid fruits, about the size and the shape of a goose egg, hence the name. In the South of Europe, eggplants were brought by the Moors, but in their dark purple variety. That is why there are, etymologically, two families of names for this fruit : those derived from eggplants and those close to aubergine, derived from the Arabic name al-badinjan.

Indeed, there is an enormous number of different types of eggplants. The most well known type in France and Britain is the plump, pear-shaped, elongated ovoid variety, with a dark purple shinny skin, between 12 and 25 cm wide and 6-9 cm broad.
In Italy, eggplants are long, with lavender and cream stripes on the skin.
In Thailand, you can find bright green striped, round eggplants about the size of a golf ball, and fruits of the same shape but in lavender, pink and white color are cultivated in Laos. There are even eggplants of the size of a grape in Asia. The Japanese and Chinese varieties are long, slender, like a cucumber, and pale purple. There are even orange, pink and yellow varieties.
Although the color of the skin can change a lot, the flesh is always cream-colored, and darkens itself to brown once the fruit is cut or peeled.

What makes eggplants different from other types of fruits is certainly their texture. When it is cooked for a short time, it gets chewy, then it feels a bit like meat. When it is cooked more, it becomes very soft and creamy. The flesh is sponge-like, and has a tendency to absorb any liquid, juice, and fat, though the fruit itself is very low in calories. Unlike most of the fruits and vegetables, eggplants are not really harmed by long-cooking and will not lose their vitamins.

Examples of textures of cooked eggplants :

Caviar d'aubergine

Babaghanuuj

Many varieties of eggplant, there is some regularity in the purple color.

Nasunine pigment = cures stress and some diseases, it also gives the skin its color.

Aubergine was first introduced as a color by crayola, the pigment used in art does not come from the eggplant directly

Family of the Nightshades : The family is also informally known as the nightshade - or potato family. The family includes Datura (Jimson weed), Mandragora (mandrake), belladonna (deadly nightshade), Capsicum (paprika, chili pepper), Solanum (potato, tomato, aubergine or eggplant), Nicotiana (tobacco), and Petunia (petunia). With the exception of tobacco (Nicotianoideae) and petunia (Petunioideae) most of the economically-important genera are contained in the sub-family Solanoideae.

Expression


Before:

- It was used as an aphrodisiac

- But also suspected of causing fever, epilepsy, and insanity

- Women in the Orient used a black dye made form eggplant to stain their teeth a gun metal gray

Nowadays:

- As a decorative garden plant

- As a food in itself or in these dishes:

Greek moussaka

Middle Eastern baba ganoush

Italian eggplant parmigiana

French ratatouille

Asian stir-fries and curries

- Sliced eggplant absorbs oil like a sponge.

- Anecdotal case histories link improvement in arthritis symptoms with removal of these foods; however, no case-controlled scientific studies confirm these observations.

- It may even replace pumpkin!

Arles photography festival "Les rencontres d'Arles" used an eggplant on its poster for the 2005 edition


Some proverbs:
'If you see Mt. Fuji, a hawk, and an eggplant on New Year's Day, you will be forever blessed.' Japanese Proverb
'You don't steal a bitter eggplant.' Turkish proverb

Eggplant is delicious hot or cold and can be enjoyed Sliced eggplant absorbs oil like a sponge.

It can be eaten marinated, stuffed, roasted, grilled, fried, in a casserole, in stews, or on brochettes. Eggplant can be baked, roasted in the oven, or steamed.
When young, the skin of most eggplants are edible; older eggplants should be peeled. since the flesh discolors rapidly, an eggplant should be cut just before using.

Eggplant preserve (Sweet) - Melitznaki gliko
4-5 cloves, almonds (with no skin), 2 cups water, 3 pieces of cinnamon stick, 1 kilo sugar(280grams), 1 kilo (280 grams) eggplants.
Select 30 small eggplants (1kilo). Remove the stems and green. With a small knife remove the thin layer of skin from the outside of the eggplants. Place the cleaned eggplants in a bowl of water, which has freshly squeezed lemon juice. (5 kilos of water one cup lemon). This prevents them from browning. Let them sit in the water & lemon for 24 hours, changing the water 2 - 3 times.
Strain the eggplants. Put a small slice in each eggplant and place 1-2 almonds in each. Boil the sugar and water with the cinnamon and cloves for 5 min. Add the eggplants, cook for 5 min. Remove the pot from the heat and let it stand for 24 hours.
Boil on a high heat, remove the foam. Once thick, add 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Let it boil again (5-10 seconds). Remove from heat and let it cool down. Place in sterilized jars.