swissnex Boston × metaLAB Basel · October 7, 2025 · Experiential Lecture-Workshop

Beyond the Alps: Sweet Entanglements

Sugar is everywhere in our diets and in our medical devices. This tasting and talk, with design anthropologist Aylin Tschoepe, cultural researcher Jamie Allen, and designer Serena Cangiano, was a chance to slow down and look at what sugar actually is: metabolically, culturally, and technologically. Swiss chocolate and Massachusetts maple syrup as starting points. Things got tasted. Questions got asked. Part of the Beyond the Alps series at swissnex Boston, in collaboration with metaLAB (at) Basel.

Hummingbird in flight - metabolic metaphor for sugar consumption

How do glucose sensors translate metabolic response into data? How does automated insulin delivery change your relationship with food? What does sweetness mean in different places, and how does that shape what gets eaten? These were the questions on the table, through tasting and talking and a lot of chocolate.

Hands reaching for maple syrup tasting samples Participants engaged in tasting and discussion Sara Krugman speaking at the workshop with expressive hand gestures Hummingbird at red flowers displayed on screen during the workshop Participants examining and tasting workshop materials Speaker presenting with 'We Are All Hummingbirds Now' slide Audience members engaged in listening and discussion Workshop participants in discussion

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