Teachers Notes

Pot Luck: Food and ArtThe New Art Gallery Walsall22 May-19 July 2009

17 International Artists have explored the relationship between Food and Art. Many of the artists have been inspired by food from their upbringing and have used food as a way to express their cultural heritage. Others have used food to spark up memories or issues with the human body.

Artist: Gayle Chong Kwan, Born UK, 1973

Title: Cockaigne series

Medium: Photographs

Content: Gayle has created a series of mythical lands that are entirely made out of food.Using meat, potatoes, butter, bread, chocolate and many other foods to construct buildings, mountains, trees etc. She then takes detailed colour photographs of them with a large format camera. Each landscape is made out of one group of foods eg Eldorado is made out of different potato shapes.

Context:

• Gayle was inspired by tales from the 14th century of a mythical land called Cockaigne. This was a glutton’s paradise island where everything was made out of food and every desire and wish would be met.

• The title of the individual photographs are of famous religious, historical, geographical or mythical places. For example: Eldorado the mythical city of gold; Babel the biblical story about the city of Babylon where the tower of Babel was built to reach the heavens; New Amazonia was the title of a book about a Utopian Society; Avalon a legendary island famous for its beautiful apples.

• At first the food and scenery look very tempting, but as you look closer you realise that the food is rotting. The tower in Babel is made out of dried meats, but you can see that they are starting to sweat and droop.

• Gayle is interested in the global tourist industry, what they advertise as a “tourists paradise” is often hiding the reality that these destinations have been altered to fit peoples notions of paradise.

Here are some questions that you may want to discuss with your class.• What has Gayle used to create each landscape• Describe each landscape. Have you been anywhere that looks like these places?• Can you think of any films or stories about food (Hansel & Gretel, Willy Wonka)• What would be your paradise island? What would everything be made out of?

Helen Chadwick Cacao 1994 Photograph: Jonathan Shaw

Artist: Helen Chadwick 1953-1996, UK

Title: Cacao 1994 (cacao is the cocoa plant which chocolate is made from)

Medium: Chocolate, aluminium, steel, electrical apparatus 85 x 300 x 300cm

Content: Helen Chadwick’s Cacao is a 3m diameter chocolate fountain which bubbles up warm thick melted chocolate.

During the exhibition 800kg of Chocolate will be used. That’s more than ¾ of a ton!

The fountain needs to be stirred at regular intervals during the day to keep it smooth.

Context:

Helen Chadwick was a highly influential artist to the younger generation of British artists who emerged in the early 90s. She was seen as very innovative, controversial and often dealt with themes of gender representation.

She used unusual and organic materials in her work including flesh, flowers, fur, hair, chocolate and much more.

The materials are often used in a way to symbolise the human body or its bodily functions.Often provoking mixed feelings of pleasure and revulsion.

Helen was inspired to build Cacao after seeing thermal mud baths in Greece. The bubbling chocolate make references to bodily functions and to human desires.

The smell of the chocolate can entice the viewer, but also repel them once it becomes overpowering.

• Here are some questions that you may want to discuss with your class.

• How does it make you feel looking at all the chocolate?

• What does the sound remind you of?

• Where else might you see bubbling liquids?

Title: Miss Chinatown (2009)

Artist: Karen Tam, Born 1977, Canada

Medium: Installation + video

Content: Karen Tam has recreated a Chinese Restaurant

Many of the items on display have come from an actual Chinese Restaurant called Mr Wong from Karen’s hometown of Snowden Montréal. It was a famous restaurant in Montreal and there is a photo of Mr Wong hung up on the wall. Mr Wong’s has changed into another Chinese restaurant called Pavillion De Ming. Karen Tam’s parents own Pavillion De Ming and her father is the chef.

The video shows Karen’s father cooking some speciality dishes.

Context:

Karen Tam’s Chinese restaurant is a stereotypical image of a Chinese restaurant that you would see in the West. She uses her installations as a symbol of an imaginary China. One that the Chinese West have created, which Westerners have come to believe is a representation of China.

Why not sit down with your class in the Chinese restaurant and do the following activities?

• Have a look at the placemats can you find out which Chinese animal you are by finding the year you were born?

• Have a look at the menu. What would you want to order?• What clues tell you that this is a Chinese restaurant?• Why do you think there are knives and forks rather than chopsticks?