Firstly, it is important to keep in mind that this was conceived in early December, when Olivia was fresh off a little stint in Japan. Secondly, it is important to keep in mind that Japan is in the habit of producing food that begs to be photographed, so Liv’s gastro-shutterbug had been let loose before the conception of this project and was something she very much had on the brain. Thirdly, it is important that you know that Olivia and Liv are in fact the same person. Fourthly, I’m Victoria (Tory), and will continue write in the first person from here on out.
Having both studied Art History in our collegiate careers, both self-identifying as ‘highly visual people’ and both working in Contemporary Art, things are very much discussed as works of art in our everyday lives. We’re not the sort of people who think of food as a fuel source; of our refrigerator as an oil well and our stove as the refinery or whatever the hell those people have running through their minds as they total up calories and nip out for a quick little 15-mile run. This is not to say that we’re two of those assholes that go around talking about Life being One Big Canvas, but I’m not going to act like I’ve not thought that before.
This project began, as most things do, as a conversation over pasta with Liv. I’d been wandering through the Internet, as per usual, and in my scanning of photographs and captions came across a foto of a kind of greenish bundt entitled something along the lines of Barnaby’s Blueberry Mystery, and besides being hugely amused by the prospect of the cake being a mystery to everyone including Barnaby, I started thinking about how many pictures of food I take in my everyday life (a lot) and how funny and interesting it would be to name all of them as though they were Works of Art. Interesting because it takes a lot of thought and introspection and a bit of ridiculousness, and funny for the exact same reasons. And in talking to Olivia about this thought I’d been playing with all day, she got excited and suggsted the inclusion of media, shifting the concept from placard on a frame to full-blown gallery labeling. This opened up a hilarious dinner conversation and the opportunity for Liv and I to really get some bonding time in by starting in on a blog together.
Thank you for visiting and for looking and for reading.
Eat Your Little Hearts Out,
The Dollhouse Collective
(((If you have any questions, have any feedback, or want to take us out to dinner, email us at nothingismorereal@gmail.com)))
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Supplementary Artist Statement: Olivia has been eating since an early age, and has had a deep appreciation of food in all its intricacies almost as long. The marriage of food and photography is anything but a silent interplay of mediums for me. The psychological impact that a meal has on me invokes an internal dialogue. One of my missions as an artist is to create the illusion of dynamic three-dimensionality on a static two-dimensional surface. The ultimate goal is to generate vibrancy that almost moves on the page. The result is my current work, in which I try to depict that which is timeless and universal, that which clearly exists in my deep consciousness and in the primeval collective consciousness of us all, that which although not so easily articulated, is instantly recognizable as a beautiful, and sometimes disturbing. Yum! Food, the essential part of our being.
