ABSTRACT
Lippard's statement, quoted above, emerges from a distinct moment in the history of art, one in which classic avant-garde pursuits are increasingly being abandoned while contemporary practices are concerned more and more with current pressing issues existing outside of the art world. Artists today are often immersed in issues of political significance, and here I will examine those interrogating the global food system, using their work to redefine ideas about land, community and agriculture, and by extension human relationships to nonhuman species. Though Lippard is surely right that these are not problems that can be solved entirely through artistic endeavors, as she notes, contemporary art may participate in these projects by providing alternative models. Because art challenges us to think differently and to question social norms, it presents ways of thinking that are integral to developing unconventional solutions to problems.
