Freedom of Eat (2019)

As a restrictive diet, veganism inadvertently channels the patriarchal view upheld by Western societies regarding how women should interact with food. This project uses performance as a tool to question the relationship between food, power and the shame associated with eating, in order to instigate discussions surrounding the issues of diet culture, focusing particularly on veganism. Freedom of Eat is a movement refusing to be complicit in the manipulation of people’s diets in order to uphold societal standards of body image.

Key themes of this project include accessibility and consent. Who is veganism for? How does the argument for veganism expand and change when race, class, and gender are heavily intertwined in the discussion? How can we proactively reject the harmful ideals perpetuated by diet culture that the media force-feed us? What are the unwritten rules of how we interact with food in certain spaces?

The use of Donald Trump as a character within this project is inspired by iconic moments shared in the media involving politicians and food. Famously, in 2014, Ed Miliband had a career-changing encounter with a bacon sandwich, a food that is commonplace in greasy spoons - arguably representative of working-class Britain. The commentary surrounding a simple act of nourishment escalated into debates on a political party leader's ability to lead a country, turning food into a weapon for political discourse.

Through this same analytical media lens, what would it mean for Donald Trump, an avid climate change denier, to be seen in public consuming ethically sourced foods? Would this change voters' opinions of him as a character, or inspire more conscious decisions in voters' daily lives?

Giving audiences within public spaces the invitation to feed a stranger in public, under vague instruction, tested whether people's behaviour or understanding of consent would be distorted when presented with a dehumanised character.

As a protest to the Italian Futurist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, author of The Futurist Cookbook, pasta became a focal point within these performances. Marinetti believed that “pasta is anti-virile because a heavy, bloated stomach does not encourage physical enthusiasm for a woman, nor favour the possibility of possessing her at any time” (Marinetti, F., Brill, S. and Chamberlain, L., 1989. Marinetti. London: Trefoil Publications. Page 41).

Alongside these controversial misogynistic views on diet, similarities arise between Futurist cooking and raw veganism, including a sense of elitism.

One performance within this project included a dinner party, offering free vegan food, drinks and entertainment, with minimal information given to guests before arrival.

As a masquerade event, guests were encouraged to distance themselves from their immediate identities and allow the specifically designed and curated menu, props, food and performance to influence their conversation. The element of the unknown encouraged guests to be intrigued by their surroundings, with faint ASMR eating sounds being played in the background upon arrival.

During dessert, male guests were encouraged to partake in feeding the handcuffed performer. This was an intentional manipulation of the perception of gendered power. Those who identified themselves as male were obeying instructions set out for them, yet had the choice of whether to act in a socially acceptable manner within the given circumstance.

From the street, the full dinner party performance could be viewed by members of the public passing by on the street. This feeling of being analysed further altered the behaviour of the guests, with one guest remarking “now I know what it feels like to be an animal in a zoo”.

Thank you to Grace Goslin, Luke Isom, Fabienne Swoboda, Giuseppe Romeo, Valeria Romeo, Sashca Lewis, Gemma Courtney-Davies, my family, and Goldsmiths tutors for input and support throughout this project.

Special thanks to The Tom Fund for their contribution. To view other Tom Fund supported projects, or to make a donation, visit: www.tomfund.org/tf-archive#/tf1819

To view other Goldsmiths BA(Hons) Design 2019 Graduate work, visit: www.themilkhasturned.com