Imagining food: art, aesthetics and design

In a physiological sense, food sustains life. For all organisms, humans included, the ‘circle of life’ includes some form of food, and without it, the organism will not survive. However, for humans this basic view of food has long since become an insufficient explanation of all that we now think and feel when we hear the word ‘food’.

Consequently, we have taken a broad approach to shaping this exhibition. Firstly, we have been influenced by the intersections we see between art and food around the world, which we feel fit into three main areas: art that features food as a motif, etc; art concerned with the making and consuming of food; art literally made out of food. Of course, these areas are not mutually exclusive, but we invite[d] our artists to consider these intersections.

Within this context Imagining food: art, aesthetics and design investigates what we see as universal concerns around the topic of food. And so we have taken a deliberately international stance, but placed within a Tasmanian context—Tasmania is, after all, part of the global community—and that the following themes [to be] addressed by the exhibition are important for us all:

Global issues: sustainable use of global resources; famine and hunger in developing nations; biosecurity/food security.

Social and health policy: gluten and fructose intolerance; eating disorders; childhood obesity, health education.

Economic issues: ownership of the means of production; ownership of the land and the firms that make our food; the role of agriculture in our economy.

‘Modern’ food: organic production; vegetarian ‘options’; farmer’s markets; paddock to plate; paleo diets.

Human behaviour: Food as a source of pleasure/hedonism; indigenous food; rituals associated with food; food tourism.

Our aim is for Imagining food: art, aesthetics and design to contribute to a greater understanding of the diversity of impacts that food has on human society, and the ramifications of these impacts on our social, economic and natural environments, through creative expression. Tasmanian artists, researchers, educators and students will present works in a variety of forms—including, paintings, sculpture, photography, furniture, craft, installation and mixed media—that will add to the breadth of our knowledge about food, and reinforce to us all that food is much more than simply a means to sustains life.

Presented in partnership with the Institute for Regional Development, The Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, The Tasmanian College of the Arts, The School of Social Sciences and the University of Tasmania Collections.

Dr Malcom Bywaters, Dr Kim Lehman & Distinguished Professor Jeff Malpas