Edible Reflection Essay

By Yung Ki Yoki Lee

The Aesthetic of Eggs: Flexibility and Eligibility

The development of this work begins with an appreciation towards the aesthetic
of eggs, for which its pervasive quality in cookery and socially ubiquitous feature
supports worldwide cultures development as a fundamental source of nutrient.

A total of 25 different egg recipes from distinct cultures are to be included in this
work. The selection of dishes are mainly based on the significance of the egg as a
raw ingredient. Yet, the choice made had to also base on the availability of their
elemental ingredients. Hence, despite the interest to cover all provisions from
both major and minor civility, some of the traditional egg dishes, such as balut
(duck fetus served in shell, sometimes also known as balot) from Vietnam, is
not vacant in the work this time. As so, the artistic decision made lays on the
arrangement of its content instead of the context of the elements.

The various dishes are aligned deliberately on a black circle plate. The
coordination of the taste and texture was first examined before the consideration
of their color and form. A number of spoons and forks are placed around the
plate.

Project Intension
The intension of this artwork is to probe into the vague border between food and
art by observing the reaction and interaction of audiences with the piece. The
food will be left opened and un-intervened. The natural change of the foods
state, for instance the transition of temperature and the shift of texture, are
considered part of the artwork. Invitations or indications to guide audiences to
eat the food is absent at all-time but they are allowed, and somehow expected to
do so. The consumed part of food will not be replaced even when the plate gets
emptied. The leftovers, if any, are considered as part of the art piece. A camera
shall be set at the exhibition space to record the activities of audiences toward
the piece.

From the 16th centuries to pop art, food had long been one of the major aspects
in fine art: the surreal portraits by Giuseppe Arcimboldo sarcastically critiques the
nobility in Italy, the Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer inherits the social structure
of Netherlands at that time, and certainly we have Andy Warhols serial prints of
 the Campbell Soup inspired by the monotony of capitalism. The appearance of
food in art was subjective to classic fine art practices in history. The subject was
often entailed into the piece of art as a supplementary item to the full
composition of the artists expression.

Here in this project, food is taken as a raw material to achieve art; as if paint is
used to make paintings and ceramic is common for creating sculptures. On this
account, food become no less than just a subject component in the world of art.
It becomes self-contained as the object of art itself when entering the practice of
art.

Indeed, it is apparent that gastronomists often consider cuisines as an object of

art by implying the aesthetic value in fine art, such as composition and technique
(Andria, 2011), to appreciate the pleasure of consuming food.

Comparison: Food verses Art

Similarities
To start off the discussion, the implication of visual perception in traditional
Japanese yosou (meaning food arrangement custom) will be used to address the
pictorial intension of plate arrangements.

We could trace back to the Edo period (1603-1868) to study the Japanese
workmanship in cuisine designs. According to a cookbook from that time Kasen
no kumi-ito (1748), special care are taken on color combinations, seasoning and
arrangement as it suggests First, omit none of the five colors: green, yellow,
red, white, and black. Second, take all of the five flavors (spiciness, sourness,
bitterness, sweetness and saltiness) fully into account. Third, if a dish is [] to be
made in the shape of landscape, you must contrive to see that all else conforms
to the same pattern as well.

i. Color
The colors of the ingredients are the prior principle in yosou. The balanced
coordination of various colors, often matching the color of the season, makes a
dish look more natural and enjoyable. This echoes with the color-choosing logic
in traditional painting approaches. (From realism to surrealism, the recognitions
of the subjects and its aesthetics are based on ones knowledge of color, such
as trees are green and skies are blue. 1 ) The correct color recall and enhances

1 Roberts, I., 2008. Mastering Composition: Techniques and Principles to Dramatically

 ones cognizance towards the item. Accordingly, the range of vivid color of food
implies the blooming taste by stimulating diners brain and in consequence the
taste buds.

ii. Shape
Other than color, the contrast of shape are also an important part in result of an
appetizing composition. Combinations of dishes presented in assorted shapes
are always considered more interesting than having monotonous display, which
the contradiction helps differentiate each portions from one another. The
attentions of the viewer shall be drawn intensified on the visual characteristics
of each dishes aligned.

In the routine of food plating, shapes are constructed either by actually carving
the food or with skills of piling. Three dimensional landscapes are created in/on
the vessels, which is similar to the practice of realist painting in early art
approaches.

iii. Space and Balance

Furthermore, the theory of white spaces and the rule of odds are generally
implied as the method of food presentation.

Part of the plates are often left empty in the food display. This establishes a
whitespace (or also known as a negative space) on the display, and eventually
creates an engaging focal point to highlight the significance of the elemental
food presented.

The rule of odds plays an important role in the fashion of food plating. The
number of food to be included on the same vessel, from the same element to
the sum of variations, are intentionally designed to be in odd numbers. This
mechanism creates a sense of harmony instead of creating symmetries by
framing each item with one other nearby item on the dish.

Differentiations
i. Flavor
From the comparisons made above, it seems that there is quite some common
aspects between art and gastronomy. Yet, with reference to the quote from The
Worlds Finest Chef by Rasmus Kofoed (2011), we might get a clue to the

Improve Your Painting, North Light Books: New York.

difference of gastronomy from traditional art practices. He noted:

I have a clear idea of how the plates should look and taste. You have a
starting point and then you develop it further and constantly optimize it; in
terms of the visual presentation so you can reveal the secret of each
ingredient in its purest form with excellent flavor and in harmony with the
others.

The diligence in visual presentations leveraged the dining experience especially

in terms of the tasting of flavors, including both sensations of smell and taste. To
such a degree, we might assume that the amassed sensational experience in
encounters of gastronomy classifies it from the traditional believes of art.

ii. Potential determinant: Sound

Sound is considered one of the decisive factor effecting ones perception in food
experiences as suggest in the book Food Design XL written by Sonja Stummerer
and Martin Hablesreiter (2009), hearing and listening is one determinative
sensation on ones perception towards food, for which the sound of food
appears in all interactions with the item, from slicing to chewing and
swallowing. For instance, the sound produced when cold fluid hits a surface
sounds brighter and crispier than that of hot fluid does.

The universal yet intimate interplay provides a dissimilar dimension to the

artistic experience. A greater extension of involvement is created, and it possibly
leads to the audiences (diners) engagements as being the one to complete the
activity of appreciation.

iii. Place/ occasion

Besides the appearance of dishes, the dining environment is always believed to
be one of the major factors enacting the dining perceptions. As according to
Mielby and Bom Frost (2012), it is possible that the food alone may have less
influence on perceived quality than the environmental factors that come into
play (p.238).

Hence, from lightings to table set-ups, the physical space upholding the dining
experiences implicitly indicates the occasion and eventually hesitates diners
attitude and recognitions toward the servings.
 Rirkrit Tiravanijas art works best address the vague border between food and
art based on this aspect. For example one of his untitled work debut in 1992,
which later often referred as Free or sometimes Still, transforms the gallery
space into a cafeteria-like space by giving out hot fresh curry with rice to the
audiences. He defined himself as an artist who cook, and so the process from
cooking to eating was an experience of art, rather than gourmet experiences. 2

Another example would be the Documenta 12 (2007) involving Ferran Adri,

head chef of the elBulli restaurant. In the project, he was invited to provide
catering experiences for selected guests in a gallery in Spain out of his delicate
avant-grade cuisines. Notably, he requested to send out further invitations to
some of the guests at the gallery dining to his actual restaurant for the true
experience of his dishes. 3

In both of the mentioned examples, food are connected to artistic practices by

means of the space of events. In other words, those dining experiences were
designated to uphold aesthetic pleasures by putting it in actual, formal
galleries.

Observations
- Temperature
It turned out temperature of the food was not a concern for food prepared and
conferred in the gallery informally. Peoples response on the site were mainly
focused on the taste and texture of the food.

- Subjectivity of the art piece

The outcome of this art work was totally subjective whereas its definitions were
given by the acts of the viewers. Either consuming or not consuming the food
prepared adds value to the piece, but unlikely from its own presentations.

Besides, the sustainability of the piece was dependent on the conservations of

audiences. For instance, some audiences might only dip their hand in one
cuisine; yet some were interested to have two or more variations of the food.

2
Strokes, R. (2012). MoMA|Rirkrit Tiravanija: Cooking Up an Art Experience. Retrieved April
18, 2015 from, THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART NEW YORK Web site:
http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2012/02/03/rirkrit-tiravanija-cooking-up-an-art-
experience
3
Hamilton, R. & Todol, V. (2009). Food for Thought, Thought for Food.New York: Actar.
Future development
To obtain an objective experiment, artist should take into account the diverging eat
styles such as vegan diets. Similar art approaches considering different diet beliefs
could be done to compare and analyse the reactions of people towards free-to-eat
food provided in a gallery.

Attachments
Bibliography
1. Tsuchiya, Y., 1985. A Feast For The Eyes: The Japanese Art of Food Arrangement,
Kodansha International Ltd.: Tokyo.
2. Arnheim, R. (1954). Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative
Eye. California: University of California Press.