Wichita State art historian talks food porn
Dr. Brittany Lockard, an assistant professor of art history, listens to a question posed by an event goer during a talk titled “The Secret Language of Food and Women’s Art” on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at the Ulrich Museum. The talk brought to the forefront ways in which female artists since the 1970s have explored and exploited phrases and ideas like “guit free” and “indulgent” by making art about, with, and out of food.
Food is often used in feminist art because of the implications it has on culture and body image. Brittany Lockard, assistant professor of art history at Wichita State, gave a talk at the Ulrich Museum of Art Tuesday on how artists use food to comment on culture.
The talk was originally going to be about eating disorders and art about eating disorders, but Lockard said she didn’t feel like talking about vomit for another 50 minutes. Instead, the talk focused on food porn.
Lockard gave the talk like she was teaching one of her classes — she put images on the projector and asked the audience to give their own interpretation of the art. She began by explaining that food is not neutral. It has cultural, ritual, and other associations.
Lockard put a picture of Waldorf salad on the screen.
“When I see, smell, taste this dish, I am in [my grandmother’s] house,” Lockard said. “It’s roughly 85 degrees. I”m sitting in a really uncomfortable chair and it’s Thanksgiving.”
She then asked the audience to share some of the dishes that they associate meaning to. It illustrated the point that food is not neutral or natural — it has meaning and significance in our cultures.
Eating is also not natural. Lockard said we are constantly influenced by food advertisements as to what we should and should not be eating. She used Campbell’s Chunky Soup, yogurt, Hungry-Man dinners, etc. to explain.
“It’s never too early to start worrying about how fat you are,” she said when she brought up an image of the “Got Milk” ad with Taylor Swift on it.
The bulk of the images used were “deliberately pornographic.” Lockard discussed Natalia LL and her images of models eating phallic foods.
“She’s fellating a banana — it’s a singe entendre if you will,” Lockard said.
Lockard allowed the audience to share some of their observations about the piece. People noted the critique of consumerism and the fact that the woman is not actually eating the banana.
Lockard also showed Marilyn Miner’s 100 Food Porn. The images show hands breaking, squishing, and cracking foods. They aren’t innately sexual, but they give pornographic vibes with the dripping paint and red colors.
Lockard concluded by talking about one of the pieces included in Teachable Moments: The XXII Faculty Biennial, “Tick Tock.” Lockard projected a still from the video of a woman smashing eggs in her underwear.
Olivia Babin was a staff writer and designer. Babin majored in political science and communications with minors in anthropology and art history. She is...
