Event Review: Starving Artists Cookbook

Review of the panel discussion on Starving Artists Cookbook (Food Sex Art) at the MoMA PS1 Art Book Fair on Sunday, September 24, 3-4pm

    I was not able to find the panel discussion because of the changing of the classroom, therefore I went to the exhibition room and did some research about it. The Starving Artists Cookbook was produced by Paul Lamarrre and Melissa Wolf, who were also the creators of EIDIA (pronounced “idea”). The name EIDIA has many possible meanings such as: Each Idea Defines Itself Aesthetically; Everything I Do Is Art; Every Individual Does Individual Art etc. They approaches their work in many ways including sculpture, photography, painting and video and film.
    The Starving Artists Cookbook (Food Sex Art) is a video and book project developed over five years between 1986 and 1991, chronicled approximately 150 artists cooking in the US, Europe and Russia. In the exhibition room, there are some pages of the book presenting on the wall which shows the artists' relationship between art and life. There are also two videos of artists cooking their food. Food, sex and art, these are the three common elements in the daily life of the artists and it is interesting to see how the artists explored the different relationships between these three. To me, the Starving Artists Cookbook (Food Sex Art) is more of a documentation that reflects what was actually happening in the art community at that time.
    It was my second time at the MoMa PS1 Book Fair and it was more interesting and crowded than last year. I like the book fair as it gives all the artists a rare and good opportunity to share ideas and get inspired.