What is Art?

Jack Foster. Cooking as a Art form. http://www.ravenchronicles.org/FoodCulture/foodcultureindex.html

First Mr. Foster starts out with a definition of a work of art from the Encyclopedia Britannica, and then states that art can only function aesthetically in our experience if it has an impact on our senses. And then he states that the more senses it makes on impact on the greater its potential impact. He makes a point stating that cooking is the greatest form of art because for cooking a creating a dish does something no other art form does. It stimulates not one or two senses but all five. Then he goes on to describe how his father cooked breakfast for him on Saturdays when he was a child. The narrative takes us back in time where he waiting and watching his father create the bacon biscuit sandwich. He describes his father cooking bacon and biscuits for him and how this stimulates all of his five senses from the sight to the taste of the bacon sandwich.
One major aspect of Food as Art was the idea that it must gain the observers attention and make him ponder the taste of the food. As with Jack the process by which his father cooked the breakfast caught his attention in numerous ways from the crackling sound of the bacon to the smoke filled smell of the kitchen. Finally the taste of the sandwich was the icing on the cake for Jack. He would appreciate all the tastes, from the bacon crease to the apricot jam on the biscuit. Just before he took the first bite he would always stare at it and imagine the tastes that were about to come. The tastes of a creation that took so much time and care allow the observer to relish in the art form of food. As seen in the videos the making of slow food such as the Saturday bacon sandwich is something that takes time and care into accomplishing. And also the actual art piece in this case the sandwich is never duplicated exactly. For the product is always different than the previous, making cooking a unique form of art that is created by the cook.






Susan Smillie (May 24th, 2007). Is Food Art? http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2007/may/24/theatreoffood

Article starts off with a really funny quote which was asked by Jonathon Jones “If canned shit can be art, why can’t gourmet food be similarly elevated? The article brings up a world wide known art show the five yearly German art show , which Ferran Adria was invited to show who art work. However the big controversy was that she was a chef, yeah she would make art out of food. Then the article brings up the question, but what is art? And it describes contemporary art as being controversial because some might think that it is art and some might think it is nonsense. Then they say it was kind of artistic to invite a chef to an art show. But an important thing that was said was the observer dictates whether something is art or not because art is simply what moves individuals and for each individual this is different. It is how the observer takes in the piece created making it art or just something to pass off.
The idea that the creation must make the observer feel something that moves them, or in some sense makes something ordinary extra ordinary is what the readings have portrayed to me as being art. Whether some critics might constitute food as being just a necessity to get nutrients in order to survive, it does not matter because all the matters is what I believe the piece to be and if I think it is art then it is art. Simple as that. For I am an individual and if something catches my attention and makes me think of it is a deeper aspect than before, then art has been created through my eyes. One thing that was related to our readings was that food can never be art, because chefs are cooking to please the customer. This was a topic of discussion in the article and I firmly disagree. For a well know chef will not deviate away from his cooking techniques to please a disrespectful customer. Either the customer which is the observer will like the meal or he will not. And if he appreciates the meal he will come back. The whole idea behind food not being art because the chef has to please the customer to make money is like stating the artist has to create art based on money instead of creating art for the purpose of enjoyment.

Self-Reflection

Ordered List

Family

Health

Personal Development

Friendship

Enjoyment

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Loyalty 

Independence

Personal Accomplishment

Wisdom

Expertness

Leadership

Security

Community

Integrity

Creativity

Service

Wealth

Prestige

Location

Power

Woke up to my fathers call from Hawaii and talked to him for a good hour. We talked about working hard in school and how this will eventually payoff in the end. So I guess you could say I started off the day with the number one thing on my list. At some breakfast and went to go lift some weights in order to get stronger for lacrosse competition and to be healthy. My father always said to be well rounded in everything. The second thing on my list is of course health and I stuck to it today as I do everyday. My goal is to be the best lacrosse player I can be and that means trying to surpass myself. I would consider that to be personal development. 

Next I came home and worked on physics and biology homework in order to further my education which  I consider to be a big part of my college life. And this again falls under personal development. Parents always say to be the best you can in everything you do, so by doing the work I will learn the material and succeed in academics. And the only way to get a good job and make something of yourself is to do work. And work is the things my parents of instilled in me. I don't think the idea of working hard will ever go away. I watched some Country music videos to enjoy myself and take a break from working. And I noticed a lot of songs were about personal relationships, and that reminded me of one of my goals, which is to have a relationship with someone. Relationships take a lot of work and time, but they also bring enjoyment. I would like to feel this enjoyment but it seems I am not ready to be in the time or work. One can only stretch their time so far before crumbling. Perhaps it is not the time or work issue, maybe it could be the fear of getting hurt. Friendship is number four on my list so maybe I need to put some extra thought into making that friendship come about. 

New Coaches

The University of Oregon Men's lacrosse team has left behind their troubles with last year and are focussing on this upcoming year. Oregon has named their 2008/2009 co-head coaches. Names are John Wright and Andrew Clough, both are past oregon team players. Not only are they stepping up to the plate as coaches they have instilled the love of the game back into the players from an upsetting previous year, that had many obstacles. But enough with the past, the future is here and now. I am confident that these two gentlemen are the real deal and with no doubt bring Oregon to the PNCLL championship and then the MCLA championship. 

Austin

Link: http://www.collegelax.us/news/2008/06/12/ducks-name-new-coaches/