Hashtagged #notyourcollegejelloshots, Ken Albala’s wobbly creations captured my imagination the moment I first saw them. Different from absolutely every other post in my social media feeds, their intricacy and jiggliness is astounding. Playful and peculiar, they draw you in, even if you’re not exactly sure what they’re composed of.
Albala’s fascination with the quivering medium started last summer when a friend dared him to join Show Me Your Aspics. With nearly 40,000 members, the four-year-old Facebook group caters to a very specific community: people with a shared passion for all things gelatinous. It’s a rabbit hole of slo-mo jiggle videos, glossy objects of gelatin flower art, disconcerting vintage finds, and wiggly experiments savoury and sweet.
“They were dreadful but the idea is actually kind of fun — to have a cocktail with a nibble stuffed together. The interesting textures, colours and ingredients that go in are just playful and silly.” Niche communities are as old as the internet itself, and Facebook is but one of many platforms. People have long found camaraderie in groups of often far-flung souls who have the same fervent interests. While your circle of real-life friends may not share your penchant for watching unsettling aspic spanking videos or swapping sourdough formulas, there are millions of others online who surely do.
nparts NOooooooooooooooo nope