Feast your Eyes! 2022
Dissertation publication
My dissertation ‘Feast Your Eyes: A Five Course Meal on the Evocative and Sensory Capability of Food in Film’ explores how food scenes within film can embody a plethora of themes and ideas, beyond its banal function of survival.
The dissertation is structured as a menu, with each chapter, or ‘course’, corresponding to the food analysed within the film scene. The canapé course addresses the amorous nature of food demonstrated in the depiction of a fetish, in the film 9 1/2 Weeks. The appetiser course focuses on the representation of authentic cultural identity, specifically in relation to Italian cuisine, shown in the film Big Night. The side dish course summons the reader to a view of the past, circulating on the theme of nostalgia, depicted in the animation Ratatouille, through a dish of the same name. The main course deals with the theme of repulsion in the form of abject, using cannibalism as its voyeur in The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. Lastly, the dessert course considers themes of divinity and temptation, raised through the use of chocolate, in the film Chocolat.
I have published each course of my dissertation as a tablecloth, allowing guests a unique dining experience, dependant on the theme of the text. The images from within the dissertation have been made into napkins, adopting a 16:9 cinema format. The introduction is designed as a menu, essentially providing the guests an aperitif to their meal. Whilst the conclusion, designed as a guest check, acts as a digestif, rounding off the meal.
Guests are encouraged to read their portion of text out-loud, using their napkins as a visual aid, leading to a discussion.
The tablecloth pictured details the canapé course. Below are the designs for the other 4 courses.
Full dissertation available upon request.
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