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Cholera IPA

fine art, human rights, good beer

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Cholera IPA

Cholera IPA

Cholera IPA

Cholera IPA

Cholera IPA

fine art, human rights, good beer

fine art, human rights, good beer

fine art, human rights, good beer

fine art, human rights, good beer

Mike Marcus
Mike Marcus
Mike Marcus
Mike Marcus
1 Campaign |
London, United Kingdom
$310 USD 8 backers
16% of $1,854 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
CHOLERA IPA 

The world's first ultra-premium, artisan ale to be brewed with absolutely no concession to commercial compromise. Its exceptional journey starts in Haiti where cholera-laden waters offer the perfect mineral profile to frame a phenomenal marriage of ingredients. The water is purified at source then travels to Europe where it is crafted into a work of art.

The finest Vienna and ultra-rare Bavarian malts are paired with the world's most elusive and coveted hop varieties, then imbued with yeast from the master brewers of a secret Trappist order. Smooth bitterness sets the stage for an ensuing complexity of alcohol warmth, tart fruit and delicate herbal aromatics. Not everyone will be able to justify the modest investment required to own this piece of brewing history. Those who do, enjoy an experience never to be repeated; an ephemeral glimpse of perfection.

WHAT?

Cholera India Pale Ale is an interactive art installation designed to highlight the inequality in living standards between the developed and developing world. Guests to an exclusive, annual London art event will be offered bottles of ultra-premium beer to drink. They will be clearly labelled as being made from "cholera-laden" water. It will be left up to them how they choose to react to the situation.

THE BACK STORY

I am a professional artist currently taking part in an MA in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins College of Art in London. My practice is influenced by political and human rights issues.

I had the idea for CHOLERA IPA while watching Youtube footage of the current situation in Haiti. By western standards the current Caribbean cholera epidemic is laughably simple to avoid. By the time water reaches boiling point, it's completely sterile. For us, avoiding cholera would be as easy as throwing the switch on a kettle.

So why has the disease killed thousands of Haitians in the last few months? Residents of the temporary camps and urban slums caused by the 2010 earthquake simply do not have access to electricity, fuel or any other way of heating their water. When I really started thinking about that which I take for granted and what it would mean to be utterly deprived of it, I felt moved to incorporate the subject into my artistic practice.

I wanted to create a work which reflected the absurdity of the situation. At the same time I want it to induce empathy, and lead us to question the values of our consumerist culture and what could be done with western resources given a slightly different frame of mind.

THE IMPACT

Being involved in the London art scene, I have chances to exhibit my work. However I want to take a more interactive approach and turn the audience into the exhibit. 
One of my roles at Central Saint Martins is sourcing beer sponsorship for exhibitions and events. For the next event (an art auction taking place in on July 8th) I will be offering CHOLERA IPA as the sponsored beer, rather than attracting the usual donations of Carlsberg, Becks, etc. I'm asking thousands of visitors to interact with the art directly by drinking it - thereby considering their relationship with the subject matter.

There will be two different forms of the Cholera IPA bottle. One will be an unsigned, unlimited edition destined for consumption during the event. The other form will be an etched, wax sealed bottle, signed and limited to 100 copies. This collectors edition is being offered as a perk to contributors on this site.

On a side note, the beer really will be made from Haitian water. However as part of the brewing process, the 'wort' is boiled for an hour and a half. Even the first few minutes of boiling would make it utterly safe to drink. For extra safety (mostly for the purpose of the risk assessment which the university will require me to sign) I will also pass the water through a 2 nanometer pathogen filter before the boil.

WHAT I NEED

The budget breaks down into three sections (all costs in GBP): shipment of sterilised water from Haiti (£210), purchase of professional grade (but small batch) brewing equipment (£725) and purchase of beer making ingredients (£92). I have spent the past few months avidly studying the art of brewing with a few small demijohns. I really am serious about actually creating an ultra high quality, craft beer.

If my entire goal is not met, I will use whatever funds are available to make the best product that I can with the available resources. One option might be to get a small bottle of water shipped from Haiti and dilute it with London tap water. I feel that this would be unfortunate as it would stretch the concept but we all have to work within our means.

I can email a spreadsheet containing the full cost breakdown on request.

WHAT YOU GET

Please feel free to give as much or as little as you can afford. All donations will be greatly appreciated. I would also like to reward those of you who show confidence in the value of my work. Because of this I want to offer a gift depending on your contribution.

OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP

I would really appreciate if you can spread the word on Twitter (@mikemarcus #choleraipa), Facebook and anywhere else you can. I'm also really interested in hearing from you, even if you just want to say 'hi'. Do you have any suggestions on how the project can be enriched? I'm really open to listening. Finally, if you are in Haiti or know someone who is, I really need some help on the ground.

LASTLY...

I really want to thank the exceptionally generous and very obviously talented Dan Gerding for allowing me to use his fantastic images of Haiti as part of the project. If it wasn't for his generosity, I would be faced with raising another $2000 and needlessly pumping 1275kg of CO2 into the atmosphere to travel to Haiti on a photographic expedition.

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Choose your Perk

Benefactor Status

$10 USD
Your Name is included in the 'benefactors' section of the future CHOLERA IPA website.
3 claimed

Small CHOLERA IPA print

$25 USD
A signed and numbered, limited edition archival pigment print of the CHOLERA IPA bottle (Edition of 75, 6x10 inches)
3 out of 75 of claimed

Large CHOLERA IPA print

$50 USD
A signed and numbered, limited edition archival pigment print of the CHOLERA IPA bottle and photography by Dan Gerding (Edition of 75, 13x20 inches)
0 out of 75 of claimed

CHOLERA IPA bottle

$125 USD
a signed and numbered, etched glass bottle of CHOLERA IPA. (Edition of 50, 330ml, 7.5% ABV) - (The issue of this gift unfortunately is conditional on your agreement that you are over 21 in the US or 18 in the UK and that it is being received as an art object for collection, not consumption. In addition you understand that the work is issued as a gift for your generosity and not in return for payment.)
1 out of 50 of claimed

Be present at the brewing

$300 USD
The opportunity to come and brew Cholera IPA with me. Learn how to make high quality beer and help me etch the bottles ready for filling. (You will be responsible for your own travel to North London)
0 out of 6 of claimed
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