Artist Daniel Arango and his Holy K Movement

I met Daniel Arango, a young, Colombian born artist, last week through my partner Vincent. Daniel is working on a art project that I thought was so intriguing, I had to write about it.

When Daniel lived in New York, he practically lived in Whole Foods, believing that everything they sold was healthy and good for you until he had severe food poisoning that left him in the hospital for nearly a week. With his myth shattered about Whole Foods, Daniel struck back at his beloved food shop.

Special K Cereal is advertised as a healthy cereal choice to keep fit but its nutrition facts read differently. Instead the cereal is filled with many artificial ingredients. Daniel found out that its inventor Dr. John Harvey Kellogg was one of the founders of the Adventist church health work, where he taught the churchgoers the importance of being vegetarian and eating wholeness food. But soon after Kellogg’s was introduced to the market, the ingredients were altered for financial gain. Daniel was fascinated by this concept of corrupted pureness for profit and how it resembled religious institutes.

The contradiction inspired Daniel to create a monochromatic object stripped of all synthetic colors, hence the Holy. The Holy K cereal box became a minimalistic black and white cardboard box packed with organic cereal prepared by Daniel.

Soon after Daniel made his first Holy K cereal box he began what he called  his cereal box interventions. For a two-year period, Daniel entered various Whole Foods supermarkets, anonymously placing five Holy K cereal boxes on their cereal shelves.These interventions were a way to subtly disrupt the organic and conventional consumer market. The boxes had barcodes from other cereal brands and could be purchased. In one occasion, three hours after an intervention, Daniel returned to the supermarket and two Holy K cereal boxes were left. Daniel bought his first Holy K cereal! This strange experience of purchasing his own art soon lead to the Holy K Cereal box portraits.

Last year Daniel, who was living in New York, sold his apartment and all of his worldly possessions so that he could travel the globe to spread the word about the Holy K movement. Letting faith navigate his path, he is moving from city to city with his portable studio (Holy K Grail cereal box, MacBook Pro and iPhone) in his backpack. Once Daniel arrives in a city, he spends his days walking each city, connecting and meeting people, to fulfill at least one commissioned Holy K cereal box portrait for a selected individual (Disciple) living there. He must connect with the Disciple on a personal level, and if it's meant to be, he will create the piece and then move on to the next city. There is no specific duration for his World Tour and it can continue for months or years.

To date, Daniel has visited Bangkok, Oslo, Moscow, Melbourne, and Hong Kong, where he has had some success in finding Disciples. Daniel is currently in Paris looking for a Disciple, so if you are interested in possibly becoming the Paris Holy K Disciple, you can email [email protected]

The top photo I took of Daniel last week at a Paris cafe.

http://www.HolyKmovement.com/Holy_K/disciples.html

 

In addition to my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, we now offer Eye Prefer New York Tours, 3-hour walking tours of New York's best neighborhoods including Soho, Meatpacking/West Village & Tribeca. Tours cost $195 for up to 3 people and $65 for each additional person.Come take a bit of the Big Apple on an Eye Prefer New York Tour!

Come experience my blog ìliveî with my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I lead. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris. www.eyepreferparistours.com
 

 

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotteís professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

Comments

[Kristine]

Really cool! I love this story!

[Joan]

WOW….guerilla art in Whole Foods….great

[Julie]

fascinating! is Daniel religious?