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Can Food be Art?
ARTINFO
November 02, 2009

Will Cotton, “Love Me” (1999–2000). Oil on linen, 96 × 120 in. The artist, who learned how to bake to create models for his artworks, plans to open a temporary bakery in New York. Courtesy Mary Boone Gallery
New York, NY—“Pasta, however grateful to the palate, is an obsolete food,” Futurist leader Filippo Marinetti declared in 1931. “Its nutritive qualities are deceptive; it induces skepticism, sloth, and pessimism.” Despite generating considerable debate at the time, Marinetti, of course, lost his war against the Italian staple he claimed to despite photographic evidence that suggested his real feelings about the food were a bit more conflicted.
Inspired by Marinetti’s polemic, Dutch artist Marije Vogelzang has announced plans for an interactive art project that would have seriously rankled the Italian radical: a massive installation she calls Pasta Sauna. On Nov. 4–6, participants will be invited to sit in a sauna at the Cooper Union heated by boiling pasta and be “as lazy and un-energetic as they want.” After relaxing, they will even be able to feast on a free lunch, which they can pass off as a political protest: The avowedly militaristic Marinetti felt that the food did not properly nourish soldiers — “Spaghetti is no food for fighters!”
kellimatz
15 days ago
2 comments
Good food always looks visually appealing and beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I think that alot of foods are art.
cawohbeth
19 days ago
2 comments
....sure food can be art. I knew a man, years ago, who carved lovely birds out of pie-crust dough;
little feathered sculptures, then perched them atop the pie. Of course no one would eat them for days.
I tend to think of true art as creations that outlast man, such as stone sculpture.
Yet, cooking is often referred to as an art. It takes applied imaginative thought, does it not ?
Each of us could take the same recipe, the hearts pictured here or a packaged craft kit and each would come out different. Is this art ? Well, this sparks the question, doesn't it. So, I'd say the answer lies in the eyes of the beholder.
HeatherPZIsaacson
19 days ago
222 comments
I tried food decorating once and I went to a retreat where they did food decorating and saw some neat artistic displays which we got to eat. It was fun. I thought it was just the art of cutting vegies and fruit and making animals and such. I'm not sure about Spagetti though.
cpertz
20 days ago
722 comments
Ihayeng: You are ridiculous! Art doesn't have to last forever. Art can last a day, a week, or months. Installations rarely go on for months at a time. Yet that is still a form of art. As an artist, that is pretty close-minded of you.
modartist
20 days ago
158 comments
Thats funny ...Ihayeng :) Thiebold paints pastries but making a pastry and using it in a Joseph Cornell type setting, does it qualify as art ? It does if ur J Cornell otherwise ur making a false accusation and yes dont give me that bailout that art is suggestive ok! I am getting sick of this Rap era, lets move on people!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KByers12
20 days ago
6 comments
I would like everyone to look at this...YES food can be art haha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_HPvAhnG_w
he does a whole bunch with different foods!
Marsianna
20 days ago
344 comments
Can art be art ???
2099 - Main Space Grid Dictionary -
ART -one of the most indeterminate objects, made by human beings or every kind of creative equipments.
If this is not enough sophisticated definition I can look for more...
lhayeng
20 days ago
58 comments
Can food be a,...Can Milk be movies? Jesus! Food as art. Okay,..here comes the next generation of idiots into the art world. Sure,..you can make art out of food. I guess. You'd better find a great preservative to last a thousand years! I don't think people would care for the smell after a while. Maybe they could eat it when in a time of need and talk about it later.Christ! Why am I even partaking in this foolish topic. I've got to get back to my painting! It's Modern Impressionism and it still rocks today with the collector. Why do these "artists" insist on doing something totally "off the wall" today? And it's not just art. It's music, movies, acting and entertainment too! It's all going down the toilet. To think I grew up in the 70's with the great music at that time. It was evolving into great aspirations of creative movement, counterpoint and structure! Progressive rock they called it! Now! It's regressive noise. That's all it is,...Noise!
I'll pass looking at the art made of food and gaze at the "Pieta" by Michelangelo. Now that is art! It will never die and it shall certainly follow us into eternity!
E. Hayenga