11The exhibit will be held Monday, Feb. 21 at 5 p.m. in the Padnos Student Gallery. It will feature art pieces made entirely of vegetarian or vegan foods, including baked sweets, fruits and vegetables. The show will include 17 GVSU student artists who have created 14 pieces to be shared with all those who attend the event.

“I first got the idea two years ago when I was reading a book by Yoko Ono,” said Kirsten Strom, the event organizer and art history professor. “It had a very Zen-like quality. A lot of what she talks about is not being concerned with things lasting forever.”

After reading the book, Strom said she was intrigued by the idea of hosting an art show where the art isn’t there at the end.

“Usually, an artist’s work is very precious to them,” Strom said. “They spend a lot of time on it. With this show, they have to be willing to let go of it.”

Many of the participating student artists say they are prepared to watch their works be consumed by viewers.

“The medium used to make the art lends itself to this theme,” said sophomore Elizabeth Uitvlugt, an art and design major with an illustration emphasis. “The very nature of the medium is temporal. I would much rather see the art get eaten and enjoyed rather than go to waste.”

Uitvlugt said her piece “Health Iconography,” which will be constructed from graham crackers and frosting, was inspired by the beliefs people hold about what it means to be healthy.

“It is a critique of those beliefs and practices,” she explained. “Hopefully, it will get people thinking about the things they consume. What you eat says a lot about who you are: your culture, your religion, personal preferences and social status.”

Junior Kristin Skinner is working on a group piece made of cookies inspired by surrealist artist Salvador Dali. Skinner, an art history major, said the exhibit is meant to challenge traditional forms of art.

“I think the purpose of the event is to get people thinking about what constitutes art, whether it be a performance or delicious activity,” she said.

Strom agreed, saying that the exhibit poses a creative challenge for the students to think through and work with a new set of materials. Though, she said that the exhibit is more about the interaction with the viewer than just the food.

The artwork senior Elyse Flynn is sharing will be made with vegan cupcakes. Flynn, an art and design major with a graphic design emphasis, said the currently untitled piece will comment on the idea of ingesting words.

She described the piece as “a comparison on the amount of words a person hears or speaks a day, and how we absorb those things without even noticing.”

Last year, Strom said an audience of about 100 viewers attended the event. Many arrived at the event early to see the pieces before the eating began. Once the Plexiglas covers were lifted off the pieces at 5 p.m., the whole show was eaten in 15 minutes.

“A lot of people don’t feel like they get contemporary art,” Strom said. “But even if you don’t understand the ideas behind it, you still get a cookie or a cupcake. The show is meant to be generous. It offers more to the viewer other than seeing it.”

[email protected]