Preoccupations: Things Artists Do Anyway [Artist and his Food - John Chia]
By definition, a ‘preoccupation’ is an idea, thing, person, activity or event on which a person expends extended time and energy. One of my preoccupations is cooking and eating. Eating is what everyone including an artist engages in anyway.
There are some who claims that a “true artist” must not pay particular attention to what he eats or drinks, food is mere fuel to his body rather, the art which is produced, should transcends all level of significance above worldly needs. If this is ‘biblical’ for artist then I must have transgress beyond the boundaries of ‘righteous art’. For I love food, I love to eat and drink the best this world can offer and if possible, learn to cook those wonderful dishes with secret recipes from my mother and grandmother’s kitchen.
Each time when I do travel, I will be tempted to taste what the foreign lands can offer. I am always keen to document them by taking photos of how these foods are prepared and take notes from the kitchen, if the chief permits. As I taste the glorious dishes I chew on carefully, each mouthful with pleasure and inquisition, deciphering the tastes of the various ingredients, these smells and taste, loges itself deep into my memory, long enough for me to experiment with similar ingredients in my own kitchen when I return.
Eating itself can be a form of art. I consider eating to be an activity that punctuates the tedious process of work. Not every meal has to be special. It can be a simple regular meal I take from the café, bistro, and restaurant nearby or even at home, with minimum preparation and interruption to the momentum of work. Alternatively it can also be an elaborate pause to break the unproductive brainstorming process, to find the creative spark thereafter.
Cooking a new dish is very much a journey of creation and experimentation, especially when the data I scribbled down from my last tour is only a wild guess what the dish really constitutes. With a little research on the internet, books and mother’s ‘expert’ advice, success rate is 50% at best.
Sometimes, I will cook to distract myself from the mundane nature of work. Cooking can be relaxing, if you are in no hurry to feed the masses, just simple dishes for yourself or love ones. It can also be an art, as the choice ingredients carefully selected, adds colour and delight to the food. The final presentation to yourself or your guest would at least look as appetizing as the dish.
Next to this page are the photos I took of delicious food I have tasted or prepared when I was overseas, all Asian food (Thai, Korean and Chinese). Some of these are a fusion from what I use to eat in Singapore with variations of taste from my Thai and Korean friends. For example the KIMCHI noodles in the center and the Hokkien Noodles – Thai Style, So Yummy!
