Preparation of food is an ancient cultural technique, as old as humanity. On the internet, food and its preparation, like almost everything else, is not only commodified but also turned into a spectacle through a constant alternation of familiarisation and de-familiarisation. A most basic human experience is reframed over and over to the point of absurdity; an audiovisual experience that is heightened to the point of dissociation

This work is part of an ongoing interactive project that is created and shared via the social media app Instagram, focussed on food as it is presented on the Internet. Details are digitally captured to create still images or GIFs of the most visually arresting forms and then uploaded for an audience under the name Distastey (a portmanteau of the words “tasty” and “distaste”). The various reactions of the audience become part of the work.

The hyperreal slickness of high-definition filming combines with jump cuts and extreme close-ups to create a captivating yet somehow grotesque and absurd modern food aesthetic: “visceral aesthetics”. The almost pornographic shots of oozing cheese or cream and dripping grease speak to a visceral reaction within all of us. Whether these reactions are of disgust or pleasure depends entirely on the viewer and their relationship with food itself.