Can food be art?

[kwilkinson]

Curious to see what people here think. I'm not entirely sure where I stand on the subject. Do you think that food can be art, or that food is a viable art form?

 

[Milhouse]

Have you taken the things you've learned, and gotten creative and made something unique and different that brought happiness or enjoyment to someone?

We need to food to survive, but the reality is that survival requirements are pretty easily met. Most of us enjoy food on a much deeper level.

Art can appeal to any of the senses. Paintings and sculptures appeal to our vision, music sounds good, fabrics for clothes can have interesting textures to touch, and food can create tastes and smells that are enjoyable.

 

[hamish5178]

I use to dream of being a chef, I read books about it, spent all my money on knives (which I still have), wanted to go to the C.I.A. sigh. . . I then discovered music and psychology, how things change! I do still envy you though, and wish you luck! ANYWAY: I believe food can be art, Milhouse covered that. You'd be silly to deny it. However, people that try to make food into art piss me off, and the best food I've eaten has never, ever, tried to be art.

 

[robin]

I'd rather it not be. It just needs to taste good.

 

[MetroStyles]

Food can be art, but I find it a pretentious art - if you are referring to the presentation of food. I just want something that tastes good and does not leave me hungry. Foodies' prententiousness is often a source of mild infuriation for me.

 

[robin]

Originally Posted by MetroStyles

Foodies' prententiousness is often a source of mild infuriation for me.
Foodies can be very annoying. Same for food bloggers.

 

[Milhouse]

Food as art pisses people off? You do not like to eat delicious food? I'm confused.

Or are you using a very restricted definition of art?

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by Milhouse

You do not like to eat delicious food? I'm confused.
Maybe this is too loose a definition of art. Does getting enjoyment from something make it an art? I don't know.

 

[MetroStyles]

Originally Posted by Milhouse

Food as art pisses people off? You do not like to eat delicious food? I'm confused.

Or are you using a very restricted definition of art?

If you are referring to me, I was restricting food as art to the presentation of the food. If you consider something like a delicious sirloin burger art, then that's your choice. I don't. I consider it good food. Just like how I don't consider good sex art. Or a great spirit. Generally I don't consider things that I consume art.

 

[MetroStyles]

I am a simple man though. I enjoy hearty meals, not dainty flavors. And while I can certainly recognize a unique and exquisite hors d'Å“uvre that plays upon my palate in a new way from a bowl of chili, I won't necessarily dwell on it. I'll eat them all up and demand more food. I guess I am a bit barbaric in that way, but I certainly am not pretentious when it comes to food.

 

[Milhouse]

Originally Posted by MetroStyles

If you are referring to me, I was restricting food as art to the presentation of the food. If you consider something like a delicious sirloin burger art, then that's your choice. I don't. I consider it good food. Just like how I don't consider good sex art. Or a great spirit. Generally I don't consider things that I consume art.

Can art appeal to any of the senses then? Or is art restricted to a certain subset of senses?

 

[Brian SD]

Art can be made out of food, but I dont believe cooking/preparing food is considered an art form.

It's one of many specialized fields where people can express creativity, skill, and experimentation, but it's not "art," in the same way that sculpture, photography, painting, or design are art.

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by Brian SD

Art can be made out of food, but I dont believe cooking/preparing food is considered an art form.

It's one of many specialized fields where people can express creativity, skill, and experimentation, but it's not "art," in the same way that sculpture, photography, painting, or design are art.

But what is it about sculpture, photography, painting, or design that makes them art? Are they not just another specialized field where people express creativity, skill, and experimentation? Is it the fact that food is consumed and then gone forever?

 

[MetroStyles]

Originally Posted by Milhouse

Can art appeal to any of the senses then? Or is art restricted to a certain subset of senses?

That's a great question. I think in the broadest sense art is anything that can bring us feelings, emotions, or insights that cold logic and process cannot. In that sense, food can be art - just by its taste alone.

Practically speaking (not theoretically), for me, food is not art. It's just not what I consider art. For me, art is something that brings the viewer to another plane of consciousness or allows him new insight into humanity or himself. Food cannot do that for me. However, I know that certain people absolutely love food and do experience emotions that I do not when they eat. This might just be a biological difference, in that I am not as sensitive to it as others.

 

[Milhouse]

Do you distinguish between the man that paints your house, and the man that paints a masterpiece. . .or are they both painters?