ABSTRACT
Taste is one of the most significant concepts in philosophy and art theory. It represents more than an appreciation of fashion or appropriate behavior. It can also reference values, opinions, and a capacity to understand complex systems like art. For example, Pierre Bourdieu sees taste as a powerful instrument for distinguishing class. Contemporary art practices that use cooking to question the traditional separation of art by medium or genre favor a more intersubjective approach to art-making that includes the recipient. This chapter discusses the works of Daniel Spoerri, Matthew Ngui, and Rirkrit Tiravanija by way of Marcel Mauss’s ideas of gift exchange. It argues that social relations that build on taste include the phenomena of gift transference. Under these circumstances, the artwork oscillates between subjective involvement and social belonging.
