In unit four, we have a special topic about is food a form of art? I see many reasonable ideas and it is really interesting for me to think of this topic. Now, I found a pretty unique article about food as art on The New York Times. This article is “A matter of taste” by William Deresiewicz. He has really interesting point of food can be art and it is more likely to be an art in the future because people are tending to make food special and unique which is an important concept of being an art work. However, he didn’t directly say food is art. He said food is similar to art. He said “like art, food is also a genuine passion that people like to share with their friends”(William 2012). Nowadays, people treat food not just for feeding themselves but also for improving life styles. Different families eat different types of food. The power of culture environment has impact people’s taste of art. People from some cultures are more tending to make food an art-like thing to improve their life quality. However, not all the cultures want to change their food to art, but why?

The answer is not all the cultures or countries have the resource to do it. Art is expansive. As I recall the article “What is art for” written by Ellen Dissayake, art is “Something that is ‘special’ is different from the mundane the everyday, the ordinary”(Ellen, 1991). And this is the reason why I didn’t agree that food can be completely an art because the food we eat normally is the simplest supply to human. It’s nothing special nor unique. However, there is an exception. A special dishes with unique elements inside of it so that people know it is different from normal dishes and it is the best dish they have ever eaten. These kind of dishes can be called as art but they are usually hard to make. It takes more than just time and resources to make a prefect art-like dish. It also requires cook to have the spirit to make unique type of food. In this scenario, only the people who got time and resources and also the talent for it can make an art food. Here comes the problem. There are still about 85% of people who lives in developing countries and a big group of these 85% of people don’t even have basic ability to eat normal food we eat in America. They starve. It is impossible for them to think food as an art because art is so far away from them.

Art is expansive. Doing a work of art requires resources, time,  people’s talents and most importantly money. For many people, art is just like a dream. A sweet dream that is so far away from them; a sweet dream that they can never access to. I have eaten some really special food. I see them as a real work of art, but does it matter if most of the people on earth cannot understand or see it as art. Same quotation, “like art, food is also a genuine passion that people like to share with their friends(William 2012). Yes! Sharing! That is the spirit of being an art and food has it. It is just a question of if people want to share their art-food to the whole world or not. Not only to the rich people who can afford it but also to those under-rich people who may not see these thing in their life.

In my opinion, art is not just a tool to bring pleasure, it is also a bridge to share your thoughts. Art is just some special thoughts and everyone has them. That is why individual is called because no one man is the same. They all have different parts in their bodies and spirits and these differences are the key though art. Now, food. Food is just one of these more topics out these, but a special one too. Everyone eats food and everyone has their own unique type of dishes that they think it’s holy as art. As I said, normal food is too non-special to be art, but with sharing, the one unique dish in everyone’s mind can be spread and thus everyone can understand and know there are those types of food out there. And only at this specific moment, I agree food is art.

Reference:

Deresiewicz W. (2012, Oct). New York Times, A Matter of Taste? Retrieved Oct.27.2014 from : http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/opinion/sunday/how-food-replaced-art-as-high-culture.html?_r=0

 

 

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.