The New Year

It is mind-blowing that Sourced Material has only been around for half a year. We emerged out of this summer while Jake Levin sat anxiously surrounded by raw wool in a dirty metal shop at the MFA program at Bard College. Since then so much has happened. We have launched a gorgeous website developed and designed by Sourced Material co founder Silka Glanzman (along with diving head on into the world of social-media/web 2.0). We have exhibited Sourced Material: Wool at Bard and in Brooklyn at Flatbreadaffair, for their inaugural show. We have hosted several lamb-based feasts (with the help of Flatbreadaffair partner/chef Leah Rinaldi). Jake was interviewed about Sourced Material by Sierra Radio and by David Horvitz for 127Prince. We have successfully exchanged all of our wool products thanks to the overwhelmingly eager response from participants from all over the US. Jake apprenticed at Fleishers Meats for three months learning the craft of whole animal butchery from some master butchers. Now he and Sourced Material are ready to explore the whole animal! And now it is almost a new year.

Here are some of our thoughts, plans, and resolutions for the new year. We are definitely going to do some whole animal butchery demos/feasts this year! We are going to have a small show of all the objects made through the Wool exchange program. We want to explore making paper. KNIVES! We want to start looking into the possibilities of pop-up stores. We are always looking for new people to participate and explore with. We are interested in the idea of Sourced Material exploring a region rather than  a specific material- maybe the Southern Berkshire Hills. We are excited to see what surprises 2011 brings for us!
Mostly we want to wish you a happy New Years and thank everyone for supporting us!!!

Steer Slaughter

We attended our second slaughter this weekend. This time we came to witness a steer be slaughtered. It was less shockling to watch this time. For one I knew, more or less, what to expect. Als,o Hans Sebold (the one who did the killing and dressing and a master butcher) had us stand much further back when he shot it. It was also freezing out, so we were already uncomfortable and slightly distracted.

But there were some real differences in the process that had their own effect. One, maybe obviously, is that steer are much larger (1500 lbs vs 300 lbs.).  Another difference is that the steer must be skinned after it has bled out and before evisceration. Due to the large size- once the cow is shot in the brain, falls to the ground, and has bled out of the cuts made in its neck- the steer is propped up on its back (using large cement blocks) to start skinning process. Hans began removing the hide at the legs,  and then he slit the hide down the middle of the belly, from the hind-legs to the base of the skull. He then carefully removed the hide, in on large piece, by lightly cutting the layer of fat that connects the hide to the body. It is a surreal sight. There is little blood as it has led out and the heart is no longer pumping. Te hide is removed like a jacket. With confident movements Hans slowly had the hide removed fro the bottom half of the steer, and it was beginning to resemble what we see in the walk in of the shop.

It was, then, time to hang it from the gantry and remove the rest of the hide as well as the head, and guts. Hans removed the rest of the hide from the steers body and then removed its head. It was at this point that we were looking at beef and not a steer. Hans went on to split its gut open letting the them spill out on pasture below it. We still can not get used to how abstractly beautiful the guts are when they spill out. 

Hans cut the steer into manageable quarters (front and hind), so that they could hang for at least a week before being further broken-down into cook-friendly cuts and proportions. It was once again a profound experience and we are grateful for the opportunity to have participated in it.

For more photos click here:

steer slaughter

Wool Exchange

We are so excited that all of our wool material-objects  have been exchanged. Now we wait and see what people make. Hopefully we can organize a show of it!!
Thank you to everyone who participated!!!!!!