Robert Barthes: Chopsticks - Essay Example

Robert Barthes: Chopsticks Robert Barthes in his “Chopsticks” drives on the ways of eating implementation of eastern or better to say East Asian techniques. The mystery begins with floating market of Bangkok where vendors are attracting the buyers with their variety of merchandise with each of the item present in smaller quantities. As the context of the essay belongs to East Asia, the importance that has been gathered around the Oriental food of the region is related to chopsticks being defined as the most instrumental factor behind the ways of cutting of food stuff and the manner they are cooked. The reason behind the smaller size of ingredients is this existence of sticks enabling it to grasp those tiny pieces before being the flavor of culinary delight. The mechanics behind the use of Chopsticks might be a topic that Barthes have tried to concentrate but his main stress has been those that are more of indicative beginning with the food, its fragrance to the choice concerning the intelligence of design and art of presentation and creation. Another phase that comes into Barthes’ work is the sudden evolution of the concept that relates the use of chopsticks compared with that of hands. The most lovable part of this comparison is the transfer of food that has been correlated with the two hands getting into act with support based on fingers. The pincers like characteristic of the chopstick makes it an artistic man made presentation of the very act that raises the clump of rice from the utensil and slide is softly to the person’s mouth. Rice over here has been given a snow like structure and look with whole entity being pushed through the lips while the diner’s gesture has ultimately been used as something that has been glorifying the purpose of food. The food is no longer an important factor behind the existence of life but also an important unit of the art of dining with chopstick creating the entire “on the table” ruckus. The artistry has now transformed the previously mentioned minuscule quantity of food into a flow of food equated with milk with gestures turned maternal with mouthful predation with alimentary manners. The convergence effect being observed with the creation of milk out of the significant smallness of the material to be eaten actually crosses over from the zone of cosmetic desire to that fulfillment of essence. This has been the ultimate representation of harmony between the Oriental foods to that of chopsticks. The art behind chopsticks now move to strong sentiments of pinch that has its association with aggressiveness that gets derived through the force and pressure the foodstuff endures. The overall softening process of food items has its beginning with the chopsticks and later enhances through the excesses of digestive system. But still the chopsticks are meant for adding grace to the purpose of foodstuffs right from the stage of cook to that of diners. Though they are used for every process that has its relation with foodstuffs, they are still a matter of rediscovering the natural fissures of foodstuffs rather than violating them. Critical Reflection of Design History The creation of an object is the result of conceptual frameworks with socially determined structure and aim. It can not be solely made on the responses of pure functional necessity and at the same time not something that arise out of sheer urge of creation in designer’s mind. It’s the institutions that enforce or implements its decision on issues like the buildings, cities, parks, and transportation networks. The final control of the interests of the society and its design related conceptual framework is under the authority of institutions. But again in the final analysis, it’s the social context of the design that gets a say as the purpose of this creation is to dissolve human dependencies. And despite above mentioned points of authority and control, things like conceptual framework, institutions and interests are not always visible and neither the object’s interaction with humans. The historians related to the domain of design has always been a multi facet personalities equally good as a curator, connoisseur and author of catalogues raisonnes analysing visual characteristics so that they can determine the authenticity along with the date and origin of the art and its appraisal. There has been a definition to develop various classification and categories but still it’s the analysis that formed the basis of the above mentioned categorization. The final very reason behind the categories has been mainly the dominance of contemporary aesthetics and the continuous concern for the creation of new products. The ultimate taste getting reflected has been the contemporary art rather than the flavour dominating past or its fragrance. The evaluation related issues have also been brought forward with some expected consequences holding the complete as true on the basis of either stylistic or moral criticism. The evaluation process of the past had its own fallacies with decisions and actions over a product of the past getting termed as answers of the questions coming into focus in present days. Historians have also found that the efforts of the past have actually established thorough analogies between texts and design products of the same period that has been given the required focus. The texts have been described and common spirit of the epoch given expressions through buildings, another symbol of art. The age pervades in the society under study. The study of these anachronistic histories of design helped in finding various possible subsections of this broad subject thereby helping an individual to concentrate as well as explore them to a great variety and scope with arrangements in type of formal as well as spatial arrangements. The termination of the explorations and findings as per stylish analysis depends on the application of formal expression of the spirit of time that has been conceived as per the class of stylish composition and period expressive statements. So to understand the deign product with historical approach, visual uniformities become necessary forming analogy in space, period and style. References Sigfried Giedion, Space, Time and Architecture, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1941. Robert Nisbet, Social Change and History, New York: Oxford University Press, 1969. Winckelmann, Geschichte der Kunst des AI- tertUms, Leipzig: Diirr (1764J. H Wölfflin, Classic Art, London: Phaidon, 1952. Emile Male, Religious Art from the Twelfth to the Eighteenth Century, New York: Noonday, 1949 (1945). Jacques Maritain, "Sign and Symbol," in Journal of the Warburg lnstitute, no 1,1937. Read More