Ambiguous Standandards of Specification: Kitchen Utensils
Since the 1950s, the number of objects designed for specific tasks has increased considerably, especially those used in the kitchen. There are an overwhelming number of specialised apparatus: for the removal of the head and strings in string beans, peeling tops of okra fingers, slicing eggs, and more. For these hyperspecific [overspecific] objects to function properly, however, the food has to be a specific size, shape, or firmness. Yet all these tasks could be accomplished with a simple kitchen knife, which, in addition to its accessibility, practicality, convenience and low-cost, requires almost no instruction and does not discriminate against a fruit or vegetable that falls short of industrially imposed standards.
Medium and Contents:
Beech wood, styrofoam, apple corer, avocado slicer, banana slicer, butter curler, cake fork, cake server, carrot sharpener, chestnut clip, corn stripper, dough sealer, egg cracker and separator, egg slicer, falafel maker, lemon sprayer, lemon squeezer, lid opener, okra peeler, orange peeler ring, pasta slicer, pit remover, pit remover and slicer for fruit, potato spiralizer, rotational lid opener, screw-press garlic crusher, spring-loaded nut cracker, string bean slicer and cleaner, stuffed grape leaf wrapper, sugar claw, tea tong, and vegetable preserver.