Objects:
• 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 art-form.
• Consider cultural differences in the production and consumption food.
Artifact: (Link to the original post)
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.
Reflection：
When I start this topic, I was pretty confident that food is art because I think art is something beautiful and some food is defiantly beautiful. Then I read the article “What is Art for?” written by Ellen Dissayake, and I changed my mind. By here definition, art is “Something that is ‘special’ is different from the mundane the everyday, the ordinary”(Ellen, 1991). The food we eat normally, everyday cannot simply be defined as art. The purpose of food that we generally eat is just a demand of human beings that support human body to live. This is pretty normal for human and cannot be called as work of art. However, I finalize my idea of that some groups of food can be called as art. This “some groups” is define as unique dish with amazing looks, smelling and taste and we can not eat through normal way. This is my final decision of what kind of food can be called as art. Not all of them, but only a special group.
Goal of future:
What actually amaze me is everyone has their own opinion about food as art. Most of people agree that food is art because food is the gift of nature. It is unique by itself. I found it really interesting, but I still stand my judge. This should be a different opinion based on different value on things. And for me, I believe that not all of the food is art, but this call might be changed when I communicate with more people. Value changes as environment changes. I shall be looking forward to future about this topic.
Bibliography:
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
Table of contents:
Table of contents:
Artifact 1: Life of value.
Artifact 2: Is food an art?
Artifact 3:Observation of people.
Artifact 4: What is Art?
Artifact 5: Horror
Artifact 6: Creative Spirituality
Artifact 7: Technology
Artifact 8: Remixing Culture