Elizabeth Telfers Food as Art and The Big Debate: Can Food Be Serious Art by Blake Gopnik - Essay Example

I will compare and contrast the course readings with the article, “Food as Art Research” as written by Aclyde.
Aclyde. (2013). Food as Art Research [Online article]. Retrieved August 4, 2013, from: http://blogs.uoregon.edu/aad250aclyde/2013/04/28/food-as-art-research/
The article compares and contrasts Elizabeth Telfer’s article, “Food as Art” with the article, “The Big Debate: Can Food Be Serious Art?” by Blake Gopnik (Aclyde, 2013). The article gives examples of the counterarguments that Gopnik offers to the numerous arguments where people claim that food is not art and that we should never consider it as such (Aclyde, 2013).

the article recognizes Telfer’s assertion that something must have an aesthetic experience for it to assume an artistic nature. The article further establishes significant overlaps in the two authors’ arguments for why we consider food as art. The article states Gopnik’s support for the idea that food can have an aesthetic experience but asserts that this experience is minimal and varies among certain people (Aclyde, 2013). Additionally, the article acknowledges the authors’ contrasting counterarguments and views on food as art. Moreover, the article states Gopnik’s comparison of food with music that is an item of art. Ultimately, the article buys into Elizabeth Telfer’s aesthetic argument (Aclyde, 2013).
Notably, the article and the course materials compare and contrast in various ways.

Indeed, the readings form part of the article’s literature and the article ultimately agrees with the readings’ ideas. For example, the article agrees with the readings’ assertion that “to consider something as art it must be one with an aesthetic experience (Aclyde, 2013).” Nevertheless, the article contrast with the argument of the reading on the measure and role of aesthetics in determining food as an art. Indeed, the article agrees with Gopnik’s counterargument that we can only experience aesthetics in a small number of ways, which among certain people. The article claims that “artwork is appreciated by the people that see it and experience it aesthetically, not by the number of people (Aclyde, 2013).”

Furthermore, the article compares the aesthetic reaction that the readings talk about with an emotional reaction that creates an extraordinary feeling like that created by art. However, the article claims that the only way to establish a reaction from an aesthetic feeling is by comparing it to other neutral feelings that you have had before which contrasts the idea of food being art (Aclyde, 2013). With this, the article contrasts the reading definition of an aesthetic experience as, “one that is not a neutral reaction, but a species of pleasure.” This contrast plays a huge role in explaining the article’s view of the idea that food is art. Moreover, the article supports the readings’ assertion that individuals interpret and enjoy the aesthetic experience of eating your food in distinct ways even though they will be sharing the same foods. The article supports this assertion by quoting Blake Gopnik’s assertion that, “food can go beyond your sensory pleasures, and it can talk about history, culture, ethnicity, politics, and the body (Aclyde, 2013).”

Nevertheless, the article negates the readings’ claim that people have a “mistaken idea that what is appreciated is a structure.” The article contradicts the meaning of this statement, which claims that food does have structure, and different components, which make up the finished product that we destroy when eating and that we do not destroy the combination of flavors (Aclyde, 2013). The article claims that we cannot destroy the performance of food but we destroy the flavor of food while eating. However, the article agrees with the readings’ arguments for why food is an art by terming intelligent their argument to the claim that food is not art (Aclyde, 2013). Indeed, the article agrees with the readings’ aesthetic argument to justify that food is art. In this context, both the article and the readings agree that food is an art as the article claims that food becomes a piece of art as it appeals to his senses (Aclyde, 2013). Read More