Meals, Art, and Artistic Value

Abstract

The notion of a meal is explored in relation to questions of art status and artistic value. Meals are argued not to be works of art, but to have the capacity for artistic value. These claims are used to respond to Dominic Lopes’s arguments in 'Beyond Art' that demote artistic value in favour of the values that emerge from specific kinds of art. A conception of artistic value that involves ‘taking reflective charge’ of the possibilities for goodness available in an activity is sketched.