Intro to Visual Practice / Fall 2010

I began with the concept that I wanted to create a foodscape like those of Carl Warner, however I wanted to simplify it. I thought of the concept of food as art, and I found it to be slightly overdone. I wanted to do something new. My next idea was to take a picture of the meal at the end…the leftovers. I looked at the work of seiss artist Daniel Spoerri, and I loved what he did, but I was worried my idea was too similar. Then it came to mind that people are very engrossed with the bizarre and the grotesque. It’s that “train wreck concept,” where it’s impossible to look away even though the image is revolting. So I had the idea that I would take your traditional food picture and let it turn into the grotesque. I carefully made a sandwich complete with mustard, a salad with dressing, some baby carrots, and a glass of milk. I arranged the food so that all the elements would be showing, and then let time do the rest of the work. I let the atmosphere alter the food as it rotted away over the course of two weeks. I documented the progress throughout, but I found the beginning and ending pictures to be the most poignant, and the piece was better in person (although I had to dispose of it shortly after due to health concerns.

Before the deconstruction

After the deconstruction

Molded turkey and disintegrated cheese