Refract: An Open Access Visual Studies Journal

On January 23, 2012, Tobaron Waxman performed Red Food for luncheon guests at the Raging Spoon, a restaurant in Toronto, Ontario. In this performance from the Jess Dobkin–curated Artists’ Soup Kitchen luncheon series, Waxman shaved his hair as viewers slurped borscht, sipped red-dyed water, and gnawed on other red foods, aptly surrounded by all-red decor. After cutting his hair, a bald Waxman approached the viewers at their tables, serenading them with slow, melancholic mourning tunes from the Jewish Eastern European and Central Asian diaspora. In this essay, I argue Waxman’s Red Food used the context of sharing a meal alongside a ritualistic performance to grieve for the loss of queer communal space. I suggest that in hardship, this mourning process can be repeated to strengthen community relations.