Soda Jerks

‘Soda Jerks’ is a collaborative exhibition that reimagines the figure of the mid-century soda jerk as a lens through which to examine the intersections of food, beverage and labour. 

Developed through the artists' shared and individual research during the Gramounce’s inaugural MA in Art and Food Studies, the project considers service roles—particularly those rooted in food and drink culture—as performative and politically charged sites of cultural transmission.

Drawing on references ranging from Irish farmhouse cheesemaking, pub culture and illicit alcohol economies to domestic rituals, holy wells, and folkloric relics, the exhibition engages deeply with the layered social histories of food, where notions of care, community, and exclusion frequently collide. 

Through textile-based installations, a billboard commission, and a one-night tasting event, the exhibition foregrounds the symbolic and healing properties of water—both sacred and profane—while positioning folklore not as fixed inheritance but as a mutable, contested archive shaped by desire, nationhood, and embodied memory.

About the artists

E Boyfield

They/them

(UK)

is a British artist and food writer, with a background in social Anthropology and material culture. Their practice focuses on food, fermentation and textile art. The artist uses these mediums to investigate labour and political power, gender and memory. Their work has been described as irreverent, playful and folkloric. The artist enjoys collaborative working, using food as a vehicle for cultural exchange.

Phillip McCrilly

He/him

(IRL)

Phillip McCrilly is a Belfast-based artist and chef. Interested in the transgressive and interdisciplinary possibilities of food, hospitality and education, he was a participant within the Gramouce’s first alternative MA in Food & Art Studies, as well as a former co-director of artist-run spaces, FRUIT SHOP and Catalyst Arts. Considering cruising and foraging as likeminded deviant practices, his research centres around queer collective acts of land and property reclamation. Recent projects include wet HEAT sweats without scent, a Platform Commission for 40th edition of EVA International, and Meals and Sandwiches, a series of kitchen-based residencies at The American Bar, and Bakari Bakery, Belfast. 

Natalia Ruhe

She/her

(US/UK)

Natalia Ruhe is a London based designer as well as a researcher, host, listener, and cook. Her work manifests as publications, photography, workshops and sound, with an emphasis on collaboration. She is interested in the interaction between people and objects, and what this reveals about capitalist society. Through this lens, she explores the histories of food and its connections to reproductive labour, anthropology, capitalism, and work.

PS² is supported by The National Lottery through Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast City Council's Artists' Studio and Makerspace Organisational Grant, and Arts & Business NI's Blueprint Investment Grant.