Factory self-guided tour – Temple of the Tongue

Temple of the Tongue is an installation of art set in their central London studio designed to complement a major retrospective exhibition, Tongue Town, now open at the Sao Paulo Museum of Modern Art (MAM) in Brazil.

This is the first time that the studio’s in Bermondsey home has opened it’s doors in which the public for four days (19-22 June) can get behind the scenes and explore their factory in where they work and create their amazing creations from jellies to exploding wedding cake.

Temple of the Tongue – the tour

Features of the self-guided audio tour of the studio, playing on the creation a cocktail organ developed in collaboration with Johnnie Walker, sampling a jelly and making a jelly mould from the vast different moulds. At varying times across the four days, visit you might also encounter crossbows and crystal tipped spears, along with one-off the newly conceived ideas ranging from mould making vodka that has been struck by lightning and other experiments from Bompas & Parr’s studio. The whole experience and journey is designed to bring to life the studio ethos that often begins with gastronomical innovations but sees many projects go beyond the kitchen to challenge the understanding of the scenes through immersive experiences.

I went along on this tour as I am a fan of Bompas & Parr and just had to discover what their factory is like. I went in upon the Jellobarium which has a marble table that they hold many meetings around and it’s of Jelly moulds on display along with a chair with skull heads upon it. Upon here I went into the Chamber of Reflection room where the big organ is on display and a meeting was taking place so I felt a bit uncomfortable to test the organ out alas, I then went into the Innovation Kitchen with not a lot happening unfortunately so I headed straight into the open plan office area which they call the Crystal Hall where everyone was hard at work on their computers I felt a bit unnerved and uneasy but it was interesting to see the office area and their staff kitchen. Finally I went into the workshop area and got to hear about the different types of jellies they have made in the past and saw lots of various moulds they have used and even their first ever mould. I then got to make my own mould I chose the fossil mould as I love sea creatures and shells. I also got to taste some jelly which was lovely. The tour does not last long literally only about 20 minutes did I enjoy the whole experience probably not because I felt uneasy walking around whilst people are working but that’s just me however I do know they were trying to provide a goldfish like experience but for me I just felt to unseasy but it was interesting to see their factory never less and seeing various things they have used in past events from the ice cream pink mound used in their event “The Extraodinary Life” to mermen tails used in “Beyond the Waterfall” etc.

I love all that Bompas and Parr do and I really can’t wait for their next event.

Click here to find out more about Bompas & Parr

Bompas & Parr is globally recognised as a leading expert in multi-sensory experience. The studio works with commercial brands, artists, private clients and top branded clients.

Sam Bompas and Garry Parr first came to prominence through their expertise in jelly making, but the business has grown rapidly into a fully fledge creative studio offering food and drink design, band consultancy and immersive experiences across a diverse number of industries.