Edible Edification

 Atkinson discusses the controversies of art and food. He explains how cooking is a lot like building, which in many senses is a form of art. He brings up the rebuttal of many critiques that because food is eaten, that it cannot be a form of art, because they beauty that once existed simply disappears. He presents us with just how architects create a building; chefs transform something editable into beauty. Atikson shows us that food is really more then something that satisfies our taste, but can have a true aesthetic beauty.

            Elizabeth Telfar expla

Is Food Art?

“The act of eating engages all senses as well as the mind.” Can food truly be art, a question that arises in today’s modern views of art? A blog by Susan Smillie presents that very question. Smillie introduces the notion of food as art by discussing the controversy around the invitation of a renowned chef, Ferran Adria, to a prestigious German art show. Many critiques said it was a disgrace to view food as art, because food is merely a crowd pleaser.  Smillie refutes the arguments in many thought provoking ways. She discusses how any reputable artist is influenced by his or her critiques, much like a chef, and thus how there work is as much art as any art.

            Smillie explains how “art is work that moves individuals,” bringing up many of the same notions that Kosymer discusses in her book The meaning of Taste. Kosymer illustrates the many symbolic meanings of food, and how those symbols are very much a part of art. She discusses not only how the shapes of food have an underlying art, but the aesthetics of taste, each of which can move an individual in many ways. We all value our sense of taste and if that were taken away wouldn’t that have a profound affect, a moving affect?

The act of eating engages all of the senses, as well as the mind” (Similie). A quote that cannot be easily argued with, and which Kosymer explains through the story of a father recognizing his daughter’s love through the sensation of tast. Our taste buds create sensations far beyond what we know, emotions that we wouldn’t expect, much like any other form of art. Our taste has a considerable effect on our minds, both which Smillie and Kosymer perceive as part of the beauty of food. 

Smillie, Susan. (2007, May). Is food Art?. The Observer, Food Monthly (online blog). Retrived April 24th, 2008 from http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/food/2007/05/theatre_of_food.html

Life values assessment

When creating this list I was sure what was to be by number one, wisdom. Without wisdom I feel no other value would matter, but when looking back on my day, I realize that wisdom was in fact not a large part of it and regrettably so. I went through my day waking up in the morning, going to work, and completing homework without any real thought of why I was doing those things. I did not think of how I was able to do them, and why I was given the opportunity. Even though wisdom was not a large part of my specific activities today and has been largely apart of my life at other points, and has shaped the person I am today. Without a personal understanding of myself and a sense of my goals in life, then none of my daily activities would have meaning thus I would experience an entirely different life. Because my family is largely the reason for my religious and personal beliefs they have constituted each one of these values in my daily life.

Service was on my top five list of values, and though I have been involved in many forms of service before, it is not a part of my everyday life. Service can come in any forms big, small, and whatever the form it is something I wish I would take a second each day and think about more. I have yet to involve the level of service I wish to have contributed to this far in my life. The only thing standing in the way of that goal and any other goal I may have is solely myself. I believe that one can do anything one sets there mind to, and there should be no excuses or obstacles standing in your way. If I believed otherwise then it would simply refute many of my life values including integrity, wisdom, etc. I believe that God will not make a mountain that you cannot climb, thus if I stated objects that were standing in the way of my goals, I would be invalidating my own beliefs. Though  I do not involve each one of my values in my everyday life, they are always there, and I am the only person standing in my way of those values. Sometimes we live life to quickly and don't slow down enough to realize what is around us, what our values are, what are rational for our action or therefore lack of action are. Wisdom

Family

Integrity

security

service

health

community

loyalty

friendship

enjoyment

creativity

independence

personal accomplishment

personal development

leadership

expertness

prestige

wealth

location

power

Paris Hilton changing the world.

http://jenbrea.typepad.com/africabeat/2007/10/paris-hilton--1.html

This blog directs one to the frightening level our media has reduced its self to. Paris Hilton taking her show to Rwanda, to what save the destitute dying children? No doubt that continent of Africa has its problems, but the issues it faces have merely become fads. We no longer see the real issues being addressed instead we are blinded by such things as Paris Hilton taking her hit reality show to Rwanda. Is seeing someone like Paris Hilton lending a helping hand supposed to motivate the rest of the world? Yet we cannot put the blame on Paris Hilton and her producers alone for the uneducated information we receive about Africa, the blame can be spread out to Hollywood in general. Films such as Hotel Rwanda, Blood Diamond, etc. show the horrors that those particular places in Africa have been burdened with. You are brought to tears and sickened by the things you see. At the end of these films you walk away with the feeling that the entire Continent is hopeless, that the horrors you just heard retold still exist, when in fact many of the films you watch about Africa are exactly the opposite. As the blog says Rwanda is one of the safest countries in Africa and on its way to be one of the most economically sound countries is Africa as well. Though these films do educate us on history that we should all be aware of, given the fact that 800,000 lost their lives. Since then Rwanda has seen promising economic gains and the country remains at peace. Its scary to think that thousands of people will be watching Paris Hilton every Tuesday try to live the "povern destitute terrifying" life of a Rwandan, when we could be focusing on the current issue of say Dar fur a region of Sudan that is experiencing one of the worst mass killings, genocide, of the 21st century. We should be educating ourselves on the horrifying acts of the Sudan government supplying weapons to the Janjaweed in order to carry out a systematic killing of their own people. Or say protesting the Olympics that will be held in Beijing China because of their economic tie they have to Sudan and the support they are giving to the government to ensure their oil supply will not be affected. Though media does reach out to many that would otherwise be uninformed, the intentions and methods of informing need to be reevaluated.