cereal

11 Things: Cereal

Thursday, July 31, 2008

In his mixed-media installation "The Land of a Million Cereals," Ryan Alexiev demonstrates how cereal is capitalism is consumerism is choice is illusion. The sheer variety is equal parts ridiculous and beautiful. It's art. With this in mind, we asked him to pour us 11 bowls of cereal. Sit down, grab a spoon and enjoy:

1. "The world's biggest cereal eaters are Ireland, England and America. The average American consumes 160 bowls per year."

2. "Each year, Americans buy 2.7 billion packages of cereal. If laid end to end, the empty boxes would stretch to the moon and back."

3. "It's the third most popular product sold at supermarkets behind carbonated beverages and milk."

4. "Edward Bernays asserted in 1954 that the crunch in the most successful cereals gave consumers an outlet for their hostile and aggressive feelings. Bernays is considered the inventor of public relations."

5. "Granula was the first ready-to-eat cold breakfast cereal, invented in 1863. The twice-cooked cereal was so hard it had to soak overnight in milk."

6. "Kellogg was obsessed with constipation and wrote a book, 'Constipation: How to Fight It.' He enjoyed a daily enema."

7. "Kellogg was a Seventh-Day Adventist and follower of the religious-health crusader Sylvester Graham (the Graham of Graham cracker fame). Kellogg believed eating meat led to masturbation."

8. "Charles Post was admitted for a nervous breakdown into Kellogg's Battle Creek Sanitarium. Rumor has it that he stole the recipe for the peculiar flakes being cooked up."

9. "Post earned the nickname 'the grandfather of American advertising.' He produced the first national advertising campaigns during a time when most everything was local."

10. "For a solid staple, I've grown to admire Grape-Nuts. For a sugary crack fix, you can't beat Cap'n Crunch."

11. "The Land of a Million Cereals" ends Saturday at Mission 17. Gallery hours are 1-6 p.m. Wed.-Sat. and by appointment. 2111 Mission St., Suite 401, San Francisco. (415) 861-3144. www.mission17.org. or www.ryanalexiev.com.


- Tim Sullivan, tsullivan@sfchronicle.com

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/31/NS3L120NTR.DTL

This article appeared on page G - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle