The war in Iraq has torn this country apart, and the source of this elongated war may have just been resolved; the issue? A couple of old ornamental dishes belonging to the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi mission at the United Nations heard of the plates and after hearing of the existing dishes claimed that the plates were taken illegally out of Iraq and they must return to its country.
Creative Time, a public art institution that “helps contemporary artists realize their weirdest and wildest dreams, turning entire buildings into musical instruments or creating signs for Coney Island merchants”, bought the dishes. They were bought for artist Michael Rakowitz, who used the dishware for his fine-dining performance piece, “Spoils.” The artist created this dish with a venison-and-date-syrup entree that guests could be perceived as loot from an unnecessary war or the culinary trophy for crushing a foreign dictatorship.
After reading this article, my first thought was, “Really? This is what you’re going to fight for? The silverware remains of your old dictator?” I then answered myself by reasoning that these dishes were now considered art! (Yes, I am going to be tackling the age-old question of what is art). I am not arguing the validity of the artist quality of “Spoils” by Rakowitz, as I have already stated in a previous blog post (“Edible Art”) that there should be no reason why food can not take on the form of art, especially here, where it is created with a meaning. The question then is, what is up with the dishes?
Taking the dishes away from “Spoils”, are we still considering the dishes art? My answer? Why not!. If we have learned anything in our class, it’s that art can take on many different purposes and mediums. What one may consider art, the other may consider rubbish. Sometimes art doesn’t have to be a painting, sculpture, or a canvas with nice polka dots; it can sometimes just reflect history. This idea that art can sometimes just be art for its reminder of history, hit me when I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see the Egyptian exhibit. The exhibit itself felt like it was there to take me back in time, to show us a period that once was. Nothing that was on display was made for art. It was all either made to record history and tradition, or, the objects on display were part of the lives of the Egyptian people. Some objects that I saw were utensils, vases, pottery, and other daily objects. What was history is now art.
If we are supposed to appreciate the lives of the Egypt that once was, why shouldn’t the Iraq of the past be recorded as history. This history could then be translated as art. The tyranny of Saddam Hussein was a dark time period for the Iraqi people. Although I’m sure people would want to forget the horrible times, there is still a need to preserve a country’s history. History is not to be looked down upon but rather be looked at for guidance, as to learn from our mistakes. Art then takes upon itself this heavy burden of encompassing all that we are. Art, now as history, has the ability to show the beauty in the world we live in, no matter how one interprets our world.
