Exhibition Description
Before entering the exhibit, enormous golden arches and familiar fast food logos encapsulate the viewer, setting the tone for the rest of the experience. In the center of the collage of logos, the words “Is Fast Food Slowing us Down?” are written. Overwhelming bright yellow and red, along with other familiar vibrant colors, fill the visible room inside. There is a description of the exhibit next to the doorway reading, “Fast food restaurants have become a part of our daily lives: whether its walking past the Burger King next to your apartment, seeing a television commercial for McDonald’s while watching your favorite show, or even noticing an advertisement for Wendy’s on your daily commute. It’s time for Americans to become aware of what they are consuming, the effects it has on their bodies, and how to eat healthier and cheaper, simultaneously.”
As the viewer steps under the golden arches into the first room, they are overwhelmed with advertisements, sculptures, and fast food propaganda. On the wall to their right, there are giant, red, florescent lights spelling “Fast Food.” Every picture or photograph in the room intends to promote happiness and hunger for fast food chains. As the viewer makes his/her way around the room, they see photos of children eating McFlurries, fast food workers cooking french fries, and even a photo of a custard stand at Coney Island from 1938. The room is intended to create a sense of hunger and excitement for fast food chains. The commonality of food chains allows each viewer to make a personal connection with each piece of art. In the middle of the room, an installation of a 2-D hamburger lays across the floor. To go the extra step, an interactive replica of a McDonald’s PlayPlace is installed to the right of the room. Children are free to play in the foam pit, while allowing their parents are able to appreciate the pieces of art, including the one their children are playing on. Below each photo, a description lies to explain the piece of art and how the images shown are used to promote business and consumption. The purpose of this first room is to allow the viewer to comprehend the advertising strategies that fast food restaurants use to persuade our business.
There is a narrow dark hallway at the end of the room that leads to the next room with the words, “The Truth,” written over the doorway. As the viewer walks through the hallway, the lights become dimmer. There are no longer vibrant lights or colors encapsulating the viewer. On each of the walls, there are pictures of obese women, men, and children, representing the product of over-consuming fast foods. There is a picture of a row of men, sitting and eating at a diner, along with other photographs of home-cooked meals. In the descriptions of each photo, there are different facts, like, “Adults who consumed fast food frequently have a higher body mass index than adults who consumed less frequently.” Each of the photographs are intended to open the viewer’s eyes to the products of consuming fast foods too frequently. Although the first room seemed like a great place to be, the second room brings light to the real facts behind each of the fast food chain advertisements and motives. While fast food restaurants are often tempting due to their low prices, it is less expensive to eat from home than it is to eat out at a restaurant. In order to show this fact, there are pictures of home-cooked meals and families sharing self-prepared meal.
To finish off the exhibit, there is another hallway at the end of the second room leading to a in-museum restaurant. The menu of the restaurant is exclusively filled with healthy, cheap meals, allowing the viewer to understand that there are ways to eat in a healthy, inexpensive way without stooping down to fast food chains. At the restaurant and gift shop, there are recipe books offered in order to promote home-cooked meals while cutting down on spending. America needs more access to healthy meals and the ability to create their own at home. The exhibit should allow the viewer to walk away with enough information regarding fast food chains to make better decisions for themselves in the future. Obesity is becoming a commonality in our world, and it is our job to help our fellow Americans to make healthier decisions and become informed on the food they are consuming every day.
Exhibition Material
http://library.artstor.org/group/199dc564-f406-4565-9ea0-31518dbc79c0?token=aqdapRwgQ1OOpq9sBK3lPA
Self-Analysis
The other day, one of my close friends experienced severe food poisoning after consuming McDonald’s chicken nuggets. I began to think about the effects of living in Manhattan, surrounded by countless fast food chains, would have on me, which inspired me to write this blog on fast food chains and obesity. I decided that there should be easier ways for people to consume healthier foods, rather than relying on giant corporations like McDonald’s or Burger King to feed our children.
The goal of the exhibit was to create an environment where the viewer was completely comfortable and happy, interacting with works of art, while becoming informed of the advertising strategies of multiple food chains. The vibrant colors and lights of the room force the viewer to become more focused on the pieces and enjoy the installations available. The PlayPlace allows the viewer to reminisce on the fun times they had as a child, while appreciating famous works, like Andy Warhol’s Four Hamburgers. The first environment intended to stimulated hunger, excitement, and joy, which was possible with the combination of aesthetics and interactive pieces of art.
The goal of the second room was to stimulate a sense of reality, shining light on a serious social and environmental problem, obesity. I wanted to show the viewer the real effects of consuming an exorbitant amount of fast food. The photos of obese Americans was meant to represent the epidemic that is taking over our country. I think that there should have been more pieces of art that spelled out some statistics involving obesity and fast food chains, in order to show the viewer the problem right off the bat.
My favorite part of the exhibit was incorporating the healthy choices restaurant, allowing each visitor to taste delicious, healthy food, after their hunger was stimulated in the first room. The interactiveness would allow each person to understand what the exhibit was teaching, while leaving the exhibit with reliable information on how to make their lifestyle a healthier one. The cookbooks would be a huge part of the exhibit’s narrative, allowing the viewers to go home and have the tools to prepare a cheap, healthy food, instead of funding corporations that hurt us. The goal of the exhibit was to inform people that there are healthy options out there, and fast food chains are not the only option when searching for a cheap place to eat.
