Cooking-an Art form or Artisan-ship

[Pete]

Foodnfoto, I have to agree with you that the term art is thrown around much to much readily. I believe that stating that cooks and chefs are craftsmen/women does not lessen them or trivalize their creativity, but to call them artists does trivalize true artists. And knowing how my opininated beliefs on this topic p*** many people off, I will refrain from saying anything more. Have fun foodnfoto.

[foodnfoto]

Thanks Pete. I was starting to believe no one understood my point of view.
Once again, I do not mean to dismiss what chefs do as uncreative or without aesthetic value, much to the contrary! See my last post about the role of PR people in the biz.
I guess my view of the profession is a bit more earthbound than most folks like to hear. Oh well, to each his own.

[shahar]

Well if you start getting into discussing what is "ART" that would be along time. What is art adbeen challenged all along history. In modern art, "art" is usaully about "what is art" - Mercel Duchump and the whole dada movement for example. But let's not miss the point.

Most art are special forms of artisan. A painter would usaully first learn how to mix colors, work on paper, wood, learns the history of paintings, learn perspective, anatomy, learn how to fasten a canvas etc. At what point does He becomes and Artist?

A musican sampling music can be an artist and can be hoax. Does he create something new with his sampling. Does he light the old piece with a new context? William Burroughs the great beat witer used to "sample" from newpapers, books and other works. Was he an Artist?

When an orchestra plays Missa Solemis by Beethoven. Are they artist? Is the conductor?

Let's look at it then. The claims are that
Art is to - 1. Challenge(intelectual respone), 2. Create an emotional response, 3. Represent the artist.

That's sure not enough of a definition but let's take that apart.

1. Food can chalenge - I've eaten in israel a shrimp falafel at a restaurant. Taking something that's considered street cheap common food and elevating it to haute cuisine status challenged many customers. This had started an intelectual debate as much as we are doing now.

2. Emotional? More that any thing else. The sense of smell(and any cook should know that "taste" is really 90% aromos and 10% pallete) and alsot taste are most primitive senses. Even a bacteria can smell. A bacteria wlll "like" something that has chemical makeup of food and "dislike" something that smell like trouble. These senses are unlike the other three connect straigh to the emotional part of the brain. When you grow you learn to associate aromas with emotions. A cake you ate at your grandmother's place, The smell of a rose in a cemetery. As a cook you sculpture aromas and create and emotional response which is personal and individualistic to the eater.

3. What you cook come from where you come from from every expriance you had in your life from every book you read, from every meal you had, from the chefs you work with etc. Sometimes it helps getting out of the context of your life to notice that.

The closet art form i know to cooking is story teller. My mom is an "Artist". She paint, sculpture, writes and is also a tradional story teller.
It's just like cooking. You take a story usually old and tradional - classic. But every time you recreate it with what's at hand. The time you have, the particular crowd, how feel at the moment, the place the story takes among a series of other stories.

It's getting long so i'll cut it off with that.

[momoreg]

Which brings us to the next question: Are artists born or made?

[shroomgirl]

Predisposed and nurtured are a great combo.

[Nick.Shu]

ahh, yes whether or not if cooking is a art form, blah blah blah.

Well, given that in most cases, commercial cookery is a trade, that then bestows the title of artisan on most chefs, vis a vis:

artisan
// noun 1. someone skilled in an industrial or applied art; a craftsman. 2. a member of the urban working classes. [French, from Italian arte guild]

Now why would that only apply to most or some or a few chefs?, easy - creative and art linked cookery off spins, such as fruit and veg carving, margarine sculpting and ice carving/sculpturing and their et al, have their origins in the arts that forever remain museums. Fruit and veg will go off,ice will melt and margarine will eventually go rancid. So within these confines, art does exist but for only a limited tangible amount of time.

That, i guess doesnt really put the argument to rest, but however, if a example of food based art is to be recognised, then i would put forward the motion that these would be the obvious example.

of course if that doesnt work, we could always get christo to wrap the entire restaurant to seal the deal.

[davewarne]

The true cook....

A perfect blend of artist and philosopher.


David

cooking is a art

every time i walk into work i know that my job is to make a persons eyes open wide and say thats amazing or thats beautiful just like anying artists with a painting or masterpiece.

now just because 10 people seen it or 150 seen it but to them it was created by a artist and then its a art form.

Brian.nf