Artifact 3: Food As Art Reserch

Objectives

  • Examine methods for evaluating qualities of art, such as product versus process, the difference between craft and fine art, must art be archival, and what is an aesthetic reaction.
  • Explore the notion of food as an artform.
  • Consider cultural differences in the production and consumption food.

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Original Post

FOOD AS ART RESEARCH

I asked myself if I see food as art after this week’s reading and video presentation. I think to compare fast food and slow food is just one of many ways to discuss this. Elizabeth Telfer said food is a kind of “minor art” because “works of art in food, whether creative or interpretative, cannot gain the same stature as those of greater permanence. (p.25) ” I still remember in last week’s reading, Ellen Dissanayake said art is something that “making special”. So I think it might be worth that I could combine those two ideas together and talk about it.

I believe art is abstract and has free style. Weather I see food as art really depends on many factors. But a very important factor is its meaning behind. I will use some examples to explain my point.

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This is a very normal and traditional dinner in China. I think not many people would see it as art, but I do. The reason is very simple, this dinner means a lot to me because this is the first dinner I had when I first went back to China since I study abroad. My mom cooked everything, which are all my favorite “family taste dishes”.

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Another example that I will see food as art is this picture. It is another Chinese food called “Mian pi”, which is made in rice. I know it looks not very good, but I will definitely see it as an art. The reason is that it is my favorite food when I was little. The store is not very far from my primary school, and the happiest thing for me was to eat a bowl of Mian pi after school. After these many years, that store is still there, and there Mian pi is still tastes same. Every time I eat it will reminds me of my happy childhood, so I will absolutely see it as art.

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These food in picture are a kind of fast food in China. It is more like snacks in the US. I will not see them as art because they are so basic and easy to get in China. But when I show this picture to one of my America friends, she said they are really pretty and she will see them as art. So again, different people will have different definition of art, and their definition will based on culture, habit, taste, and many other factors.

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On the other hand, sometimes I will judge food by its looking. For example, this picture shows what my dinner was today. I am not good at cooking, and it tastes not good. I will not see this food as art because, I mean, I can’t find any reason to do that.

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Last example is this one. It is like small hotpot in China. I will probably see as art because it tastes really good, plus, it looks pretty.

To sum up, I will see food as art when it means something special to me, which is similar with Dissanayake’s definition of art. And I will also judge food based on its taste and looking. And lastly, different people will have different thoughts about food and art, and art is still a very broad and abstract term, but this is what attracts people the most at the same time.

Reflection

I chose this post to represent this topic’s objectives because it shows how I see food as art in different perspectives. First of all, it tied to Ellen Dissanayake’s reading from the second week. I discussed what is art for in Unit 3: What Is Art For posts , and Dissanayake had a really important definition for art, which is “making things special”. I think if I see food as art, it has to bring something special to me. I talked about how important that the memory of a food or dish gave me in my post, and this is how I differ a food from art to just a normal food. For example, I see a dish as art when it means a lot to me even if it doesn’t taste well, and on the opposite, I would not see a food have any different other than normal food if it doesn’t have any story behind.

By the way, I think the reason I see food as art based on its story is because I value my family as my primary important. I mentioned it in my second post Life Values Assessment in Artifact 1 that my family is always the most important thing in my life. I also mentioned it in my fifth week’s post Personal Adornment Reflection when I talked about my dressing.

In this post, I also mentioned a Chinese snack to demonstrate culture difference in terms of food. While I see that snack as a very normal snack, my American friend says she will see as an art because she never seen such thing, and it is so pretty. Culture could make many things different, and I also talked about this in my third week’s post Is Food Art.

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http://ly.beijing.cn/bjlyfw/twly/n214070807.shtml

Another example would be chicken feet. Chinese people love chicken feet while most of American people don’t eat chicken feet. If I ask an American friend if she sees chicken feet as an art of food, she would probably say there is no way to see that. I believe this kind of culture diversification is making our world more interesting and mysterious.

Future Goals

I need to keep researching and looking outside of the box in terms of art and food topic. I insist using my own judgment to decide whether I see food as art, but I believe this topic is much complicated than this. I should consider more factors; for example, how different gender see this topic, how different age people see it, and how myself in different mood see it, and so on. I want to make myself more considerable, and maybe I would ask more people for help to making a real research on this topic.

Bibliography:

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.

 

Table of  Contents

Main Page of Portfolio

Artifact 1: Life Values Assessment

Artifact 2: What Is Art For?

Artifact 3: Food As Art Research

Artifact 4: Adornment

Artifact 5: Horror

Artifact 6: Creative Spirituality

Artifact 7: Technology

Artifact 8: Public Art

Bibliography

One Comment

  1. The simplest example of a wholesale chain includes a manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, and consumer.

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