The article I read is called “Occupational Aesthetics: How Trade School Students Learn to Cook” written by Gary Alan Fine from his book “The Cultural Study of Work by Douglass A Harper”. In the article, Gary discussed a lots about the difference between expressive work and learning of a craft. He uses cooking as an example which can fit into each category. Gary inferred that when people are learning to cook, they are taught particular aesthetic such as how trench bread receives four slits across the top prior to baking. After than, he explains the importance of visual appearance, tastes and the texture of cooking. He also claims that cooking allows people to enhance their potential of creativity, such as how to improve the visual look and a dish, the taste of flavor and the texture. According to Gary, food is not a form of a traditional art, but it does share many qualities and similarities of an art.

In the article, Gary also describes many detail about how a chefs a trained to make a food. Chefs are usually required to CREATE their dishes appealing to different tasts and lloks. In Gary’s words, it is called “lowest common denominator”, which is saying that a chef must create something that everyone is desired to eat. However, he also argues that “this creativity does not go far enough to consider food a fine art” because “an artist must only create something that will be sold one, but in order to be successful, a chef must create dishes that will be ordered over and over again”.

Somehow I am kind disagree with the opinion that Gary mentioned in his article. I believe that the potential of human creativity does not have limits no matter what type of art you are working with. Traditionally, restaurants are required to update their menu monthly or yearly; in order to achieve that, chefs must create dishes that cutomers may never see it before. This requires a high sense of creativity. However, according to Gray’s opinion, “chefs hardly ever receive praise for inventing a new dish even though the creative processes are the same”.

Source:

Harper, Douglass A., and Fine Gary Allan. The Cultural Study of Work. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2003.

In the country where I come from, China, people has a really strong sense of understand about food because we believe that food is one type of symbol of culture which reveals the change of history and human wisdom. For example, about 50 years ago, China was recovering from the destruction of the war that people were suffering from food shortage and natural disaster. In order to survive, Chinese people was trying to eat EVERYTHING including something that western people could never imagine and trying to make them delicious. This is one of the main cause why Chinese cuisine are well-known because its flavor and diversity. However, does that mean the food can be counted as form of Art?

According to Dissanayake, the idea of art is consist of 3 concept: human history, all human society and psychological or emotional need which as psychological or emotional effect. In the meantime, Tefler also claim in the article that food is “often arranged or decorated in creative and attractive was which constitute a visual work of art”. As I mentioned above, food or cuisine often has strong relationship with human history, which will affect the framework of the society and people lifestyle. By the definition of art given by Dissanayake, food has already satisfied the first 2 concept of the idea of art; however, I believe the third concept along with Telfer’s argument should be the key point of defining whether food belongs to one form of art. Tefler mentions that when people are making dishes or food, they are prefer to make it creatively like putting some decoration on the cake on around the dish. The purpose of doing that is to enhance appetite and enjoyment, which can be understood as creating “psychological or emotional effect”. For example, spicy food are usually made in red or use red containers. By doing so, it is not only just because of the color of chili but also give people a sense that the food itself might be spicy, but also provides a visual impact which may stimulate people’s appetite. On the other side, some restaurants will offer some small dishes which contains lot of vinegar to stimulate people’s appetite or offer some light-flavor food after you eat some strong-flavor dishes such as beef steak. More typical example can be cakes. People usually eat cakes during the celebration which is considered to be happy and memorable. Thus many cakes are decorated with color and has really strong taste of sweetness because the flavor sweet will enhance the sense of happiness by stimulating the enzymes made by pituitary gland.

In conclusion, personally I strongly believe that food should be counted as forms of art.