Food Studies Matter, Meaning, Movement Case Food and Art, Edward Whittall

CASE FOOD AND ART EDWARD Edward ( is a Learning Experience Designer based in . A former scholar of food and mance , he has published research in areas of food , art , and urban politics . Learning Outcomes After reading and discussing this text , students should be able to Describe some of the ways that food art has provoked debate , discussion , and criticism about both art and food , EDWARD 747

as well as other themes . Use ideas about place , time , material , and space to gate the relationship between art and food . Critically on conceptions of art , food , and food art . FOOD AS ART , ART AS FOOD Lady Gaga wore a meat dress to the 2010 Awards . She was criticized by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ( and lauded by celebrity chef Fergus . Was the dress art ?

Was it food ?

Was it protest , or was it waste ?

The answer might be yes to all of these questions . Regardless of where you land , the question of how , and even art can be made from food and food from art deserves attention . Another meat dress appeared in the art world in Canada in 1987 . sculpture , Flesh Dress for an Albino tic , consisted in a dress fashioned from of raw skirt steak and hung for display in a gallery or , in photographs , modeled on the body of a live , female model . The material becomes part of the idea , Taken as a whole , wrote Jennifer ran , parodies the expectation that women provide for others at the expense of their own work thus becomes a form of viable resistance to patriarchal oppression . When was mounted at the National Gallery of Canada in 1991 , it was met with patriarchal resistance in the form of Felix , a who Kelly . Quoted in 1998 , 538 . 1998 , 537 748 FOOD AND ART

sat as chair of the parliamentary committee overseeing funding for the Arts in Canada . was offended on behalf of people who hold food sacred in this land , suggesting that the rotting of food was an insult to the poor in tough economic times . Curator Diana fired back , suggesting that ple were upset not because meat is food but because meat is flesh . But steak , unlike the human to which alludes metaphorically , is also food , even within the powerful confines of the National Gallery . points out that mann , though known for his ridiculous attacks on the arts in general , made arguments against that should not be lightly dismissed , given his expertise in meat production and . Neither disgusted by the meat , nor concerned that its use in art robbed local food banks of needed supply , he instead focused his displeasure on meat normal use and place it should be on a butcher counter , not in a . Barbara suggests that food can only become art when it is from eating and eating from nourishment . But if we think about a marble sculpture , would we argue that marble can only be art when it is from being a ?

artist Marcel famously mounted a urinal in an art gallery , with the defense that because it was an object chosen by the artist and mounted in a gallery , it was indeed arts . But it also raised the question What is art , how ?

1991 . Ibid . 2000 , 17 . 1999 , Mann 2017 . EDWARD 749 Some might imagine that art should exist outside the realm of moral , political , financial , or even practical value Art for Arts Sake , in other words . But the cultural forces that define one thing as art and another as urinal shift over time and place . Many temporary Western art forms invite , smelling , tasting , hearing , and moving in and through the artwork . The centre of the art experience is now less the object of our tion , and more our bodies and selves as we engage in the thetic experience . Food is always an aesthetic experience , whether it is eaten in a museum or at a sidewalk stand . In many ways , food has less become like art than art has become more like food . The debate over the meat dress brought these questions to the forefront . Where does food become art , and where does art become food ?

Yael describes food art as a creation that gives the diner pause and makes her think . If the value of bringing food into the museum lies in helping us think differently about our to it , perhaps , then , it also helps us question our to art and , ultimately , to each other and to how and where we live together . Epilogue What happened to the meat dress ?

The power struggle to declare the meat either art or food came to a head when a City of medical officer , on the order of a local councillor , closed the gallery for a health inspection . The inspection revealed no health hazard at this time , Edward Ellis , one hopes . Finding that meat on display was safe as long as it was neither touched nor eaten , the exhibit was reopened ) and the dress was thus declared by institutional powers as meat and art . It remains . 2010 , 14 . 10 . Globe and Mail , 1991 . 750 FOOD AND ART

served to this day in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts . Discussion Questions How does the museum help make food into art ?

Think about the ways the museum supports and creates the experience of art , such as lighting , play , programs with descriptions of the work . How does the butcher counter or food store support or create the experience of food ?

Again , think about the concrete things stores do signage , display , lighting , descriptions . What are the to a museum ?

What are the differences ?

Exercises What is art when it is made with food and What is foud when it is turned into art ?

The exercises below are designed to prompt debate and discussion . Working with a partner or a group , tackle one of these works . You can collaborate on a mind map , Google Slides , a virtual white board , or sticky notes on a wall . When each group is done , present the findings and discuss as a class . Framework The idea of Art The word art often leads us to the word Perhaps we think of objects like paintings , photos , and sculptures . Perhaps we think of events like performance art , or immersive installations that engulf us as we move through them . Regardless of where your EDWARD 751

experience takes you , you might recognize some differences between objects and events . Here are four areas to frame your research and discussion Place Does art only happen in a museum ?

Where else might you find it ?

What are the differences between places you find art ?

Here , you can think about things like sion fees , architecture , outdoors indoors . Time How is time part of an art experience ?

Has the art already happened somewhere else ?

Is it happening now ?

Will the art be there tomorrow , or will it be gone ?

Is it being preserved or is it going to disappear over time ?

Can the art happen again ?

Material Is there an object ?

Does the object change ?

Does it stay the same ?

Is it art if there is no object at all ?

Space Does the art ask you to move through space to experience it ?

Can you touch , smell , taste , or hear the art ?

Do you have to stay at a distance ?

Framework The idea of food Ask the same questions about food . Place Restaurants ?

Farmer markets ?

Museums ?

How do different places create different ideas of food ?

Is there a difference between eating art in a museum exhibit and eating food in the same museum restaurant ?

Time What kinds of times are involved in food ?

Growing , harvesting , cooking , serving , eating , wasting ( don we waste time too ?

Are all these times the same ?

What about preserved food ?

When is a pickle ?

Material Food is a material . But what about food that you see on television ?

Are you consuming it the same way as you might at home ?

What happens to food when you cook it ?

Does it stay the same , or does it transform ?

752 FOOD AND ART Framework Food as art Use the internet to find examples of food art . Download pictures and use them on your discussion board . Space You eat food , serve food , buy food , and make food for yourself and others . How is space used in a restaurant ?

A cafeteria ?

A supermarket ?

A farmer market ?

How does space create different ideas of food ?

Place Where is the art happening ?

Museum , gallery , restaurant , an open field ?

What does the place tell us about the art ?

Time What is the timeframe for the art to happen ?

What happens to the art over time ?

Does it end ?

Does it stay around ?

Is the art related to harvest ?

To consumption ?

To waste ?

Material Is the food in the room ?

Can you touch it ?

Eat it ?

Smell it ?

Is it just being watched ?

What happens to it ?

Does it change ?

How ?

Space Where is the food in the space on a table , a wall , a podium ?

Do people have to move through the space ?

Are they seated ?

Close to the food , far from it , or both ?

References Flesh dress not a health 1991 . The Globe and Mail . ON . April . Playing to the Senses Food as a Performance In Performance Research On Cooking . Richard , Ed . EDWARD 753 , 2000 . Robe de Chair Pour Une Albinos Flesh Dress for an Albino Art 51 ( Spring ) Le Centre de diffusion . Mann , 2017 . How Urinal Changed Art Arts ) May . 1998 . Disciplined Subjects and Docile Bodies in the Work of Contemporary Artist . Feminist Studies 24 ( 2010 . Eating My Words Talking About Food in Invisible Culture 14 . 1991 . A Raw Meat Dress Stakes Claim As An Object of The Chicago Tribune , April 14 . and Kelly . 2010 . Five Interpretations of Lady Gaga Meat News , September 14 . 754 FOOD AND ART