Is food art? Maybe. Is all food art? No, probably not.

Ultimately intention and consideration of nuanced details define whether food is art or not – most distinct among those details is the “making of special.” As Dissanayake writes, “The crucial factor for claiming the beginning of a behavior of art, I believe, would have been the ability not just to recognize that something is special, but deliberately to set out to make something special” (Dissanayake, p22).

In the case of fast food, this is not so. It is mass produced, generally with little care, and is primarily in service to function (and arguably not even that as it carries only nominal nutritional value – perhaps a larger and altogether different conversation). As discussed by Elizabeth Telfer in this week’s reading, it also does not pass the test of aesthetic reaction, “if I like the way cottage cheese contrasts in flavor and texture with rye bread, my reaction is aesthetic, whereas if I am pleased with the combination because it is low-calorie and high-fibre, it is not” (Telfer, p10). It doesn’t take a particularly discerning palette to appreciate the economic ingredients and flavors mixed into your happy meal, but serves primarily to sate hunger. It is primarily a beast of function, not aesthetic.

Furthermore the individuals preparing your Big Mac and bucket o’ fries are not creative artists, but instructed technicians: “If a chef who creates such a dish gives exact orders for its preparation to this team of assistants, the assistants are technicians rather than artists, and the relationship between chef and technicians is like that between the architect and the masons” (Telfer, 16).

Alternatively food prepared with intention, care, and the craftsmanship of a discerning cook – or even a loving mother, for example – can be defined as art – “high” or “major” art even – despite Telfer’s protests to the contrary. Again we refer to Dissanayake’s statements about making special: “if art is regarded as a behavior, making things special, emphasis shifts from the object or quality or commodity to the activity” (Dissanayake, p24).  In this sense, it is the ritual of preparing food that is special, and can, contrary to Telfer’s belief, elicit an emotional response: “The making special, the touching of or entering an extraordinary realm that making special encouraged and allowed, the unifying self-transcendent emotions that were called forth, demonstrated the like-mindedness, the oneheartedness of the group so they would work together in confidence and unity” (Dissanayake, p23-24).

Beyond ritual augmentation, intention plays an important role in defining food as art. What is the meal composed of? Does it adhere to specific dietary/lifestyle restrictions or considerations (as is the case in meals prepared vegan, raw, or gluten-free)? What does it speak to? Is it a rejection or criticism of conventional, culturally enforced models of consumption? Does it offer new or innovative solutions to global social injustices perpetuated by those models?