Topic: Is Food Art?
Unit 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.
Because food and drink are so essential to our survival, many fail to appreciate them as a form of art. However, it should be obvious that food can serve a greater purpose than simple nourishment. “We can distinguish liking the taste and smell of food from approving of it instrumentally on the grounds that is nourishing, fashionable or produced by politically respectable regimes” (Telfer, p., 11). In other words, food oftentimes produces an aesthetic reaction separate from the knowledge that after eating it, one should expect their appetite to be satisfied. Telfer describes an aesthetic reaction as one that is “non-neutral, non-instrumental, having a certain intensity and often accompanied by judgments for which the judgers claim a kind of objectivity” (Telfer, p. 11).
I believe that food should certainly be viewed as an art. While some argue otherwise on the grounds that food’s main purpose is not to produce an aesthetic reaction, the fact that people are willing to pay a premium for higher quality food demonstrates that food serves many more purposes than simple biological necessity. It can be argued that cooking is a craft (carrying out instruction, following a convention or employing a technique), rather than art (an original creation). The distinction between the two is unclear, as the act of cooking requires very different degrees of autonomy. While fast food is intended to be produced in a uniform manner that prohibits any artistic expression from the cook, a good cook is able to interpret recipes and processes in a way that makes each dish unique. Although it is easier to argue that a cook at a high quality restaurant is an artist, even the least autonomous cook has to use personal judgment when dealing with ingredients of varying quality and improvising when the instructions cannot be followed exactly. The reason that the demand for high quality food exists can be explained by Dissanayake’s assertion that humans have a need to make things special; “via art, experience is heightened, elevated, made more memorable and significant” (Dissanayake p. 10). Because food is a form of art, many are willing to pay a premium for food produced by an artist that has ‘made special’ out of what is otherwise mundane.
Reflection:
Although I could certainly see the artistic merits of professional-quality dishes before reading Telfer’s article, her arguments as well as the Slow Food and Fast Food videos provoked me to reexamine several of my own opinions on the subject. This primarily had to do with the differences between premade food, homemade food, and food from a high quality restaurant. After completing the assignment I started to assess the artistic merits of food that I cook at home. Although I take care in maximizing the quality of taste and presentation, I realized that cooking for myself and one other person fails to compare to a chef at an expensive restaurant in regards to the aesthetic reactions that we intend to produce. While I might be more emotionally invested in the people eating my homemade food, it is quite likely that a professional chef’s employment is dependent on the satisfaction of his or her patrons. While we both strive to produce aesthetic reactions in the people who consume our food, I believe that the commercial requirement of a professional chef means that he holds himself to a much higher standard in the degree of artistic expression he imbues in his work.
Telfer’s article was also thought-provoking in regards to the distinction between fine art and craft. While premade food and fast food are generally more appropriately categorized as craft, they tend to be mass-produced from a model that could be appropriately described as art. I believe that this is one of the most important reasons that the distinction between art and craft is unclear in regards to food, as mass production necessarily simplifies the creation of a product to allow for cheaper labor and minimal variation in the output. For this reason, I believe that the general public will continue to fail to see the artistic merits of food.
Learning Goals for the Future:
With a newfound respect for the process of cooking, I hope to further improve my own culinary creations by approaching them in a way that maximizes aesthetic reactions from those who eat them. While many people fail to see the artistic merits of mass produced food, I want to be able to appreciate the artistic merits of all food by relying less on the craft/art dichotomy and by paying more attention to the overall process of the creation of a meal.
Citation:
Dissanayake, E. (1991). What is art for? In K. C. Caroll (Ed.). Keynote addresses 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.