Where did all the art made of food go?

This article is from WeChat official account:NOWNESS now (ID: NOWNESS_OFFICIAL), author: Roxanne, from FIG title: Darren Bader

The art of food has been emerging in an endless stream: from August to the end of this month, a group exhibition discussing the relationship between nature and humans “feeding” each other “Interrupted Meal” is in Hao Art The museum is in progress; just last month, the sensational “tape banana” installation artwork was officially settled in the famous Guggenheim Museum.

“Interrupted Meal” exhibition site map

“The Shape of Appetite” by Tang Han and Zhou Xiaopeng

Following “This is also art?”, another hot topic of discussion came, “How to preserve this banana?”

A slightly oxidized banana and a section of gray tape. This equally famous artwork was made by the Italian national treasure artist Maurizio Cattelan. On December 5th last year, this work caused a huge sensation as soon as it was exhibited at the Art Basel Festival in Miami Beach, USA.

“Comedian” (Comedian) by Maurizio Cattelan

Like its name “Comedian”(Comedian), people seem to have become this The actors in the comedy came to take photos with this banana one after another, seeming to put into practice the irony concept carried by this banana one by one. Cattelan has also repeatedly “emphasized” to buyers who bought the works that the rot of bananas is not within the scope of after-sales, and it is only necessary to replace the bananas by themselves.

The audience watching the works

At that time, another episode occurred during the exhibition. Performance artist David Datuna unexpectedly took the bananas and ate them secretly. He also posted on Instagram explaining his “hunger” art, saying that he liked Maurizio very much. Cattelan’s work, of course, bananas are also very delicious, eh.

Performing artist David Datuna eats bananas

In fact, “Comedian” sold as a work of art does not include bananas or tape. The person who bought it actually bought a “certificate of fidelity” and a detailed copy of it. Installation and storage instructions on 14 pages with diagrams.

Guggenheim’s chief cultural relics manager Lena Stringari said that this description is actually very simple and easy to understand. In detail, it clarifies how often bananas should be replaced. (“7 to 10 days”), and where to paste the most appropriate (“175 cm from the ground”) and other details.” Of all the works I usually face, this is probably the easiest one, it’s just a piece of tape and a banana”, Ms. Stringari said.

Performing artist David Datuna eats bananas

The adhesive tape will lose its stickiness and the banana will gradually rot. When these two seemingly ordinary and perishable objects were donated to the Guggenheim Museum by an anonymous collector, the artistic value has risen again. Nowadays, more and more works of art are made of temporary objects (such as food), so will other similar artworks made of perishable, perishable and unsustainable items have a chance to be among the various Is the big museum preserved?

How to save those easily broken artworks?

The term “ephemeral art(ephemeral art)” is derived from the Greek εφήμερος, literally translated as “horoscope”, meaning one day or Short life. Just like Cai Guoqiang’s gorgeous fireworks, behind the seemingly short time, the concept behind the disappearing artwork is permanent.

Cai Guoqiang’s “Colorful Mushroom Cloud”

In fact, it is not so easy for museums to preserve such conceptual artworks.

You may have seen a model made of tortillas in a museum, or a balloon filled with air exhaled by the artist. But have you considered whether these things can remain the same when you come back next time? ——The question in front of the museum is how to continue these instantaneous art that cannot withstand the “destruction” of time.

Mexican artist Damián Ortega built a cross-connected model of tortillas. Collection in Guggenheim.

We always think that museum collections can be preserved for hundreds of years and over several generations, but this is not the case: How to restore oil paintings and how to repair cracks in sculptures has always been a common trouble. Not to mention those contemporary artworks. For example, if a certain computer or software is outdated or aging, then the question is, how should the electronic digital art based on this computer be presented and retained?

Italian artist Piero Manzoni’s work “The Artist’s Breath” in 1960. The balloon was initially inflated, but gradually deflated over time until it lost its shape.

“‘Time’ refers to the time from the perspective of the universe, not the trivial daily time staying on the work.”

——Artist Piero Manzoni

For professionals, the answers to these questions are as complicated as art itself. According to Melissa Chiu, curator of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Park in Washington, “Once you think that art is a concept and materials are secondary, then whether the materials can exist for a long time is not that important.”

Melissa Chiu, Curator of Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Park
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In the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, there are special cultural relics protection experts who tend to use biodegradable materials to create artworks. “Many works are really challenging to preserve. The role of our museum is permanent Save these works.”

The “preservation” here actually refers more to the preservation of the artist’s thoughts. For artworks like bananas or corn tortillas, the materials are decayingAfter throwing it away, although the material carrier of the artwork disappears, the idea carried by the artwork still exists, and the museum will recreate it according to the artist’s instructions.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

The Hirshhorn Museum still faces the preservation challenges of “disappearing artworks” and more.

“Lick and Lather” by artist Janine Antoni is a work between performance art and sculpture: a female head sculpture made of two molds, the raw materials are chocolate and soap. After the production was completed, the artist deliberately licked the face of the sculpture with his tongue to blur it out, in order to show the “objectification of women in the entire cultural system.” When this work of art is not on display, the museum uses refrigerated storage to maintain the shape of the sculpture.

“Lick and Lather” by artist Janine Antoni, the left side is made of chocolate and the right side is made of soap.

Another workIt is “Palimpsest(literally translated as a parchment scroll that can be written repeatedly)” created by the famous installation artist and visual artist Ann Hamilton in 1989 : There are many slowly crawling snails in the glass showcase, and people can see them slowly devouring two cabbages. During the exhibition, the staff of the exhibition side must replenish these dishes at any time to ensure that there are enough fresh vegetables for the snails to eat.

“Palimpsest” created by visual artist Ann Hamilton in 1989

The artwork that uses food as the material, and another representative work I have to mention is the “Apple” created by Yoko Ono in 1966, which consists of a plexiglass base and a green apple.

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