In an era obsessed with calories and nutrients,
we have overlooked what truly nourishes us.
For generations, comfort foods like instant noodles have been simultaneously craved and shamed — guilty pleasures that remain universal in our kitchens.
Through our cultural probe following 18 university students, we discovered the invisible emotional data behind our comfort food practices, revealing patterns of emotional nourishment that conventional nutrition labels never capture.
Scroll to discover the emotional nutrition hiding in your bowl.
An egg added after a tough day.
A handful of greens when we need to feel virtuous.
Extra chili during creative blocks.
We modify our instant noodles
with extra ingredients without much thinking.
These aren't random additions,
but intuitive emotional prescriptions.
Watch our noodle vessels travel with us.
These aren't just meals. They're companions
through various activities. Sometimes the bowl
becomes the steady presence linking heartbreaks
to celebrations, deadlines to discoveries.
Sometimes it's not about the noodles at all,
but the gentle rhythm they bring to chaotic moments.
Ever notice how certain flavors instantly transport you somewhere else?
Words from our memory vessels connect to entire chapters of our lives. Family gatherings. Late study sessions. First apartments where familiar smells created belonging in strange places.
A mass-produced supermarket packet becomes deeply personal. These noodles weave emotional memories together like flowing streams, connecting moments across time, nourishing something far beyond our physical bodies.
This project doesn't judge our comfort food choices but invites us to see the emotional nourishment they provide.
The data vessels make visible what we've always felt but rarely discussed: food feeds more than just our bodies.
21 May 2025, Building 8
RMIT University Vietnam, SGS Campus
What emotional flavors are in your bowl? #Noodles&Beyond
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