13 Easy Creative sculptures to do with kids while at home
Food art works possess their own characteristics that differentiates them from how food is traditionally perceived to be used.[3] They have their own features in terms of how they appear to the onlooker, the experience they offer to the public and their meaning.
Visual
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Foodstuffs can be made into visual objects which can be considered as works of art, since they are not necessarily intended to be eaten.[4] Sculpture made from butter, sugar, corn and other agricultural products was a common feature at fairs in the later 19th and early 20th century[5]
Whereas, in the latter half of the 20th century and the 21st century saw the use of digital photography increase and be used as a new means to reach their audiences through modern art. Typically used in the commercial setting, food photography captures the still life representation of food used for advertisements, packaging, magazines and menus. Social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok have allowed artists and amateur users to share their creations easily online and start trends like #foodporn and #instafood as a result.[6]
Performance
Traditional food art creations are portrayed in two-dimensional still life form, but some contemporary food artists have experimented using performance as a form of expression to transform our understanding of troubling issues.
Red Hong Yi (also known as 'Red'), a Malaysian artist and architect, recreated plate-sized portraiture entirely out of food. So far, Red has created works depicting Ai Weiwei's face from sunflower seeds, Jay Chou out of coffee stains and other contemporary Chinese icons out of various objects.[7] As well as humour, artistic works challenge current global and political issues with her most recent project involves a series of portraits of Asian individuals out of foodstuff such as cake sprinkles and matcha leaves titled "I am not a virus." This series attempted to address anti-Asian racism and violence around the world, especially following the Coronavirus pandemic.[1]
In 2021, Red created a performance piece called Climate is Everything to illustrate the pressing matters of climate change. A video uploaded onto her instagram page showed a world map where green matchsticks had been placed at different heights to represent trees. The piece was then set fire to, demonstrating the urgency of climate change and that "it takes a long time to build something up, but it can be destroyed really quickly too."[8]
Viewer Participation
Food art can question, surprise and engage the visitor by prioritising social interactions and participation in the event to form discussion of the subject matter. In 1962, Alison Knowles, a founder of Fluxus, visual and performance artist debuted her artwork, Make a Salad (also referred to as Proposition #1: Make a Salad), at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. It has since been recreated at various different venues, such as the Tate Modern in 2008, the High Line in 2012, the Walker Art Center and most recently Art Basel in 2016.[9] Make a Salad involved Knowles and the participants preparing and tossing vast quantities of vegetables in dressing and then serving it to the spectators. At the time of its original showing, impresario, John Cage, coined the work to be "New Music".[10]
Furthermore, in 1992, Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija staged an event in New York's 303 Gallery with the intention of "bringing people together".[11] While there, Tiravanija's work called Untitled (free) consisted of him serving free bowls of pad thai curry and rice to gallery goers to encourage a social environment where participants came together to take part in the activity.[12]
