Breakfast Atlas: Ralf's signal scanning – and possible breakfast scenario 2023

Elisabet

Jan 1

Ralf has had a busy year. Life as a consultant with an eye for trends and tendencies has in no way become less dynamic or calmer in recent years, and the intensity and complexities in 2022 continued in the direction of the well-known tangent... in times of great change and upheaval, signal scanning becomes even more critical as a tool. Signal scanning; not to predict exact events - or to ward off the "surprises" that, when faced with them, we choose to call them (but which, perhaps, if we had been more vigilant and chosen to perceive those weak signals, might not have been so surprised by) - but to be more prepared for a larger palette of possible outcomes - and better at handling them.

In times of crisis, war and panic, where interest rates rise, the interest in home-knitted bandanas and home-generated electricity increases, and where the big worry seems to be the lowest common denominator that brings together otherwise extremely personal and individualized people, the campfire that somehow holds us together, Ralf has set up and prepared a future breakfast, based on some weak signals, suggestions of possible outcomes and tendencies, in 2023:

Expression: Baroque aesthetics

Ralf reflects on how aesthetic surgery (which seems to have become more common and accessible as a form of therapy or identity enhancer), also has departed and derailed from the trend or idea of correcting/adjusting appearances to create an unnaturally natural appearance (with perfect harmony, straight noses and teeth and balance), and to rather exaggerate, create effect and reaction.Things appear off-balance.

Ralf looks to the history of art, and recalls from his studies, a phase between the High Renaissance's search for aesthetic balance and harmony and what later developed into the Baroque; a phase during which the artists started to exaggerate certain forms and deviate from the absolute and balanced harmony that had been the ideal. For example, unnaturally large hands can be seen on an otherwise beautifully balanced sculpture or a strangely long female neck in a painting that was otherwise perfect with the ideals of the time. This style came to be known as mannerism and preceded the actual Baroque, when contrast, movement, surprise and exaggeration were embraced - a search for effect and awe as a counter-reaction to balance and harmony. Linked to the present and the aesthetic ideals prevailing 300 years later, Ralf reflects on how aesthetic surgery (which seems to have become more common and accessible as a form of therapy or identity enhancer), also has departed and derailed from the trend or idea of correcting/adjusting appearances to create an unnaturally natural appearance (with perfect harmony, straight noses and teeth and balance), and to rather exaggerate, create effect and reaction. Things appear off-balance.

Patients under the aesthetics surgery knife seem to increasingly abandon the idea of adjustments and corrections that should not be noticed, the idea of investing a huge amount of resources but make it look totally effortless and natural - and rather seek value for the risk, time and money spent: To exaggerate. Create reaction. Awe. Giant manga eyes, extreme contrasts. Ralf aniticipates huge ears and glittering implants. Not only within aesthetic surgery, the area where signals were detected, but generally regarding aesthetic style expressions, Ralf traces more dramatic, expressive and emotionally moving expressions. All the pain, pride, anxiety,of our days; a need to express the dynamics experienced, with more emphasis than previoulsy - to not hold back (and; who can maintain a perfect expression in these storms?)

Intake: Back to the mothership

...possibly, even the Harlequin novel gets a boost on the top reading lists - Something that has a reasonably well-known end result gains traction when so much in the outside world leaves everything open-ended and insecure

In times of worry, we look towards home, we reconnect to some kind of safe zone; our version of a safe operating space, within which nothing can go completely wrong, where the really exciting kicks might not happen but where we know roughly what to expect. Food is often more than just nourishment, it is loaded with emotions and comfort food tempts when everything else is faltering. While, our style according to the above signals, might manifest baroque ostentatiousness and bolder elements for surprise and awe (as a form of positioning to scare and tactics to ward off the external threats we experience?), Ralf suggests that what in terms of food, culture, media, what ever we take in, should ideally be comforting, nourishing and reassuring in both form and function.

Exoticism and experimentalism; the search for the new-fashioned and exciting will fade for a while as we go back to the roots (swede mash) and wheat buns, marshmallows, romantic comedies or action films that last one and a half hours max, and, possibly, even the Harlequin novel gets a boost on the top reading lists - Something that has a reasonably well-known end result gains traction when so much in the outside world leaves everything open-ended and insecure. Depending on when we grew up and created our first safe identity space, we will look for anchors that make life bearable, from this very time - and those of us who have been far out in the fringe colonies of discovery space, Ralf anticipates, will navigate closer to the motherships - At least for a while. In addition, the own, physical local pantry and storage seem to become more important when the uncertainty in the outer spheres seems to grow. What about cyber security? access to electricity? Is there toilet paper in the store? The trend that has taken us towards more shared ownership, platform models, storage of information in common bubbles and clouds and other models that require a measure of trust in global systems - may face headwinds as secure access to what the need requires; knowing what one has and where one has it, some form of deposit guarantee, now drives localization and protectionism. The mattress as a bank? A small crank generator for electricity? To have the essentials close at hand and to know your nearest neighbours...

Insight: Monotasking tools

Perhaps now, when the quantum computers can now perform many things for us simultaneously and very quickly, the time is here for us to return to products that help us focus on one thing at a time. A practice and capability we might have forgotten...

The technological development and the so-called information democratization have not only increased access to and channels for exchanging information of different quality, the development of various solutions for efficiency has also made what we have since learned is impossible in reality, almost possible: Multitasking.

It seems so feasible, to be able to carry everything you need in your pocket - and at the same time, the number of possible tasks started to make it difficult to sort out what the main task was; what and how should one focus on at all when a phone is simultaneously a camera, a cash register, a photo album, an encyclopedia, a work computer, an instrument for health diagnostics and a cinema. We have learned at some point that it is not possible to multitask, not really, but we are constantly exposed to tools suggesting so many options that is becomes difficult to know which task we should actually carry out first and foremost- the impossible becomes easier and in the end little gets done. At least not for real.

Perhaps now, when the quantum computers can now perform many things for us simultaneously and very quickly, the time is here for us to return to products that help us focus on one thing at a time. A practice and capability we might have forgotten. After technology excitement and efficiency needs pushing forward practical and sometimes absurd hybrid gadgets that have ultimately diluted the main function, Ralf foresees increased demand for tools that have a clear main function, e.g.

Sauna. Setting the debate about the benefits or harms of the heat, steam, cold baths, etc. aside, the popularity of sauna bathing may well rather stem from the fact that in the sauna, due to the physical circumstances (the heat and the humidity, the steam, the löyly), it is difficult to do much other than mainly sauna:ing. Thus, sauna is anticipated to be a persistent trend - with possible obstacles rather from energy prices and restrictions.

Telephone kiosks. At least - back to the phone with a curly phone cord! Something that grounds us. Some still prefer to carry out conversations in a fixed place and with focus. Now we are talking.

Library with reading rooms. Where silence prevails. At least sometimes. Reading rooms that, when we step into them, invite a form of devotion. Here we read. Bicycle workshops that are simultaneously yoga rooms, flower shops and cafes in all their glory, the need to maximize the use of the surface, sometimes it's nice not to have to choose or remember what one was supposed to do.

Breakfast scenarios: What kind of 2023 breakfast scenario will these signals boil down to, according to Ralf?

The baroque still life; another of these days' reminders of vanitas, we are not forever, - or just a breakfast worth lingering with for a while

Well, Ralf anticipates a focused morning meal that we enjoy seated by a table in a kitchen, not on the go. New regulations restricting the use and handling of single-use packaging, as well as the general decrease of the status that the "on the go" lifestyle used to signal, have the take-away latte to fade. Again, the lesson is learned; we are not gaining much time in the long run from trying to multitask. Porridge continues to reposition as the main star of the morning meal as comfortable ingredients with high nutrient density per price unit become desirable - and is feasible when we sit at a table and eat, not holding a mobile phone,a hand bag and a steering wheel at the same time. Apple sauce and lingonberry jam have a place as the local or regional flavor enhancers (in the Nordics, at least until even further climat changes bring the kiwi fruits to grow happily here) and color and vitamin kicks that they are. Exotic, exclusive, imported fruit products can still be seen on festive occasions but the trust and pride around the local produce has grown and seems to stay; wild winter apples and raw lingonberries from nature's pantry, are allowed to shine in the morning artwork; the baroque aesthetic emphasizes dramatic light, shadow and color in still life depicting a bowl of porridge, some colorful fruits and berries, a reliable loaf of bread, filter coffee and perhaps a carefully selected morning paper. The still life; another of these days' reminders of vanitas, we are not forever, - or just a breakfast worth lingering with for a while.

With these suggestions for morning meals, and with a mind and heart open for the most part, Ralf and the editors wish you a good 2023!

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