The first impression that I had when I saw this topic is “this is going to be crazy.” Don’t get me wrong. Personally, I like delicious food and especially dessert and ramen. And when I connect art and food together, I say yes. Food is art. Basically, food is a demand that we eat to support our body, but good quality food can make this process much better. People enjoy so much when they are eating something not just delicious but looks great and smells good. This is a human basic demand. If I saw a well-made ramen with prefect taste and amazing smell served before me, I will say it is a work of art. However, not all food can be in a form of perfection. When food is perfect for the eater, food definitely can be seen as a work of art. According to ” Food as art” written by Elizabeth Telfer, ” Although food may be an art form, we should not always treat it as such. For one thing, not all food constitutes a work of art.”(Telfer 2002). I can see food can be art but it is not completely an art work. Food is more likely to own a big part of art work, but missing a constant element that keep the good quality as infinite.
From Ellen Dissanayake’s essay “What is art for”, I think the method of “art for life’s sake” is better fit for my argument. According to Ellen, art is “Something that is ‘special’ is different from the mundane, the everyday, the ordinary. “(Ellen, 1991) So the food we eating everyday is kind of not special. We eat it everyday as a basic need of human body. So I agree that as a special form, food can be an art, but the food we eat daily base cannot be called as a work of art.
Some people don’t view food as an art because they believe the only function of it is relieving hunger. I’m very glad that you don’t deny the aesthetic part of food. You still believe there are some food can be treated as an art. We both have the consensus about this. In your article, you mention that you like ramen. You also says “If I saw a well-made ramen with perfect taste and amazing smell served before me, I will say it is a work of art” (yiqi). I know ramen and I’m very curious about what kind of ramen can be treated as an art? According to the article “Food as art” by Elizabeth Telfer, if you want to view something as art, firstly it can give rise to aesthetic reaction. Did the ramen give you that king of reaction? At the end of the fist paragraph, you say “ Food is more likely to own a big part of art work, but missing a constant element that keep the good quality as infinite” (yiqi). It seems that this sentence denies the view that some food can be viewed as art. From last week’s reading, Ellen Dissanayake in her essay shows her points about art. I think her main view in the essay is that art is a normal human behavior and can be helpful for people’s survival. So under this, I believe food can be treated as art because we eat it everyday. This part I hold different view. But yours are very interesting and maybe can help me to think about it in a different way.
I see what your point is. It does make sense that people who have some experiences having perfect food (here I mean food with a delicious taste and a great look) see them as an art. On the other hand, people who are not having the perfect food do not see food as an art. They just take them to relieve their hungers. You took a side of being on both rather than taking one side against one other. You pointed out what you are standing for by quoting the right sentence “Something that is ‘special’ is different from the mundane, the everyday, the ordinary. “(Ellen, 1991) When food means something special to someone, food becomes an art, and it does not when it comes to someone whom food does not mean special. I think you’ve pointed out really well and I agree with your point of view. I was one of people who do not see food as an art, but I now can see food as art in some case.
First, thank you for sharing your opinions to food as art – it is always an enjoyable process of reading others’ thoughts, from which one is able to see shared background and feel part of the community. According to Yiqi, “I can see food can be art but it is not completely an art work. Food is more likely to own a big part of art work, but missing a constant element that keep the good quality as infinite” (2014), you states “perfection” will be a hard thing, so does food. The part of food that stimulates people’s physical reaction and arouse their internal needs would be acceptable work of art, however, the rest is the imperfect part so it counts for the reason why the topic of food as art is controversial. Yet, I may challenge your viewpoint on “as a special form, food can be an art, but the food we eat daily base cannot be called as a work of art” (Yiqi, 2014). I believe food is something both special and normal. As for special, it is because food is the necessary daily supplier for our physical needs, meanwhile, I say “normal” as it serve as everyday meal everyone has right own it. Like what Dissanayake (1991) claims, art is a normal thing that influences human’s behavior and functions on natural survival. I believe it is the variability of being special and normal leads food to be work of art.
I was glad that you put in the quote “Although food may be an art form, we should not always treat it as such. For one thing, not all food constitutes a work of art” (Telfer 2002). I feel that this quote truly solidifies all my feeling about food being considered an art form. While I support the idea that food can be seen as an art form, I agree that this isn’t always the case. While I feel that many basic raw foods that take no preparation to eat such as fruits and vegetables and many other easy to make and consume meals aren’t considered an art form because the preparation is simple, and the presentation of the food is simple. I do find that intricate meals made by different gourmet chiefs can be constituted as an art form, the amount of time and effort put into not only creating a unique meal, but also presenting their foods in a way that is visually pleasing.
I found it interesting that we both agree with the point that food can be a form of art. While I noticed that you mentioned “Food is more likely to own a big part of art work, but missing a constant element that keep the good quality as infinite.(2014)” I am little confused about what you mean by “infinite”. What I understand is you mean only something that have a constant element which infinitely keep good quality can be seen as art. For many artworks, it is impossible to keep their best quality infinitely. And this condition also denies the possibility of any food being seen as artwork. In my point of view, food that involves the cook’s passion and attentiveness can be seen as artwork.