Art Essay

I stumbled upon another piece by Ellen Dissanayake beautifully written about art as human behavior. Ellen breaks down her piece into three different subjects: ethology and art, art viewed ethologically, and the value of art. The first excerpt focuses more on how animals and humans behave in their present habitats, hence ethology (the biology of behavior) (pg. 397). Inevitably we assume art has developed from our early ancestors through stone carvings and cave paintings. She touches up on the idea that art was a way of survival, although mentions the thought of art having no extrinsic value. The idea of art has evolved with no concrete definition as the idea of art if very abstract. Art has the ability to be composed of many different characteristics based on the context it is used and the “behavior” in which the term art is being coined. Ellen makes a point that perspectives on art depend on the culture and societal views. She appoints the idea of art having an “aesthetic regard” causing the observer seeing the deeper meaning behind the presented piece. The whole idea behind thinking a piece of work is special stems from the behavior of making and appreciating the specialness and value of art. She also touches on the idea of art being “socially useful” (pg. 402) as in people use art for therapeutic remedies and gives a sense of order to an individual.

In a recent reading by Elizabeth Telfer, she addresses the issue of whether or not food could be considered art. She touched up on the idea of food having an aesthetic property influencing our judgment determining whether food could be considered a form of art. In Ellen’s piece, she talks about the idea of a piece of work with an “aesthetic regard” should be experienced with a deeper meaning and understanding in which the way the piece was made. The homosapien has evolved in developing the behavior to appreciating art that maintains a higher value. We have developed cognition and perception to help us understand why we see certain pieces that draw our attention. Dissanayake focused this excerpt on the idea of the evolution of our behavior towards art due to the evolution of our cognition. This idea can be tied into Telfer’s with our evolving societal views influencing our outlook on culinary perfection.

On the other hand, Telfer makes an argument as to why food should not be considered a work of art. The way we look at food is looking at the remnants of a masticated animal. This could contradict the idea of Dissanayake’s view on the differences of the essence of a ritual being a form of art or representation of a higher power. She mentions the idea of a ritual for certain cultures as being a form of “language” in order to express some gratitude or feelings. Through the process of evolution, the idea of performing rituals have played a close relationship to presenting itself as art. In Telfer’s case, she does not see that even though we are presented a plate of well-dressed food, it may not be seen as art. However, in certain cultures, sacrificing animals and eating them is seen as both a ritual and art. But here we are again balancing on that fine line between concluding rituals are a form of art or simply a way of expressing gratitude.

In another reading by Lewis, he addresses the undermining definition and meaning behind values. Values develop from many extrinsic and intrinsic experiences and influences in our lives. The essay done by Dissanayake addresses art as having an impact on our everyday life as a useful tool. I feel this may lead to a self-realization and influence on the values we believe in. Art has the ability to shape the way we see ourselves as well as the world around us. If looking at a piece of art has the ability to influence our ideology and potentially our beliefs. Lewis mentions the thought of “drawing upon [our] own accumulated sense experience” (pg. 16). We develop our sense of making conclusions about pieces of art based on our past experiences. As Dissanayake mentions in her work that “ art provides as an ‘escape valve’ through license and heightened or diverted feeling” (pg. 402). Being able to immerse and divert your thinking from everyday life to analyze and interpret what you feel and see while looking at an art piece may have the ability to morph current beliefs and behaviors.

Works Cited

Dissanayake, E. (1980). The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism Vol. 38, No. 4. pp. 397-406. Wiley.

Lewis, H. (1990). A Question of Values: Six Ways We Make the Personal Choices That Shape Our Lives. Axios Press.

Telfer, E. (2002). Food as art. In Neill, A. & Ridley, A (Eds.), Arguing About Art: Contemporary Philosophical Debates (2 ed., pp. 9-27). New York: Routledge.

Depending on the way food is being utilized. Referring back to Unit 3 where we challenged our ideas and opinions on what we interpret art, my current definition of art would be anything that provokes emotion or a feeling. When I look at food, there are times where I feel nostalgic when the food presented to me reminds me of my past or fond memory of some sort. On the contrary there are times where I don’t even care about what my food looks like because I am too hungry to care. I feel when looking at food in real life, a painting, a picture or a video, I would lean towards the aesthetic reaction Elizabeth Tefler opens her piece with as my reasoning to why I think food is a form of art.

In the article by Elizabeth Tefler, she mentions the easily misconception of looking at a piece of work, whether it be in a form of “machinery” or an actual piece of art, and appreciating the aesthetics of the object and interpreting it’s aesthetics as beauty or simply a “species of pleasure” (Tefler, pg. 9). If a chef were to beautifully plate a bowl of cereal, I may feel inclined to make an opinion in the direction of saying that this bowl of cereal is beautiful. However, I feel as though my past experiences with a bowl of cereal or memories that flood my mind when looking at cereal may interfere with a critical examination of the “art work” that has been placed before me. In Dissanayake’s essay, she makes a point about art being somewhat of a supreme value and a “source for heightened personal experience” (Dissanayake, pg. 22). So if I were to experience this “heightened” experience, would it be right for me to make the assumption that this dressed up bowl of flax is art? Dissanayake also mentions that an artist would not design something just to go through the motions but to “deliberately” (Dissanayake, pg. 22) go out to make something special. The chef is the artist in the background conducting the presentation of his masterpiece. People put so much time, energy, and even go to school to perfect “the art” of cooking. If an individual were to “make their food with love” I would agree that food is a form of art. If I were casually presented a bowl of cereal for breakfast, I would not think it’s art. Although I do contradict myself here as I know I would develop a feeling of being hungry. In the end, I do think that food is art as when we do see a piece of steak decoratively dressed in a nicely colored sauced and garnished with rosemary is a pleasing sight to see.

Dissanayake, E. (1991). What is art for? In K. C. Caroll (Ed.). Keynote adresses 1991 (NAEA Convention), (pp.15-26). Reston, VA: National Art Education Association.

Tefler, E. (2002). Food as Art. In Neill, A. & Riley, A. (eds.) Arguing About Art: Contemporary Philosophical Debates (2nd ed., Chap. 2). New York, NY: Routledge.