Video Design

Making art out of food is not necessarily anything new. However, there is a difference between happy faces made out of salads and the kind of food portraiture done by Nibrasso as presented in his Youtube videos. The one I'm going to take a look at today is "Food Art 1: Marilyn Monroe made of Cucumbers."

Nibrasso begins his video with a humorous text "today I work up and felt like eating…" leading into an image of presumably himself munching on a cucumber, the word "cucumbers!" appearing in a cartoon bubble to the side of his face. Then the video truly gets started.



The food portrait is being created on a while canvas, against a black background. The artist himself is wearing a dark shirt, so he fades into the background as well. On the opposite side of the white canvas, there are two long cucumbers placed lengthwise. These items give a sense of scale, how large the portrait is going to be. They also provide a sense of symmetry, something on the other side of the art and artist.

The result of the setup is that of a very positive/negative spacing. The figure is being created on a white background, which is counter to everything around it. And since the art is being made with cucumbers, it is in varying shades of green, very different from the back and white surrounding it. The darker green of the cucumber skin provides a contrast against the lighter slices and the white background.

This arrangement brings a kind of unity to the composition. Although the artist moves and the image of Marilyn Monroe slowly begins to grow on the white canvas, the setup remains the same. The artist brings in a bit of variety, injecting another image of himself eating a cucumber halfway through the video, as if he was reloading his food supply.

The viewer's eye is drawn through the piece, following the movement of the artist's hands as he constructs the portrait. His movements create rhythm, especially since the film is sped up to run faster than normal time. However the focal point is always the slowly growing piece of art in the center of the screen.

At times the lighting of the video upsets this carefully constructed composition. It becomes too bright and the viewer cannot see the portrait on the canvas. The pale green of the cucumber flesh washes out and there is nothing to see.

As for the portrait itself, Nibrasso creates an amazing likeness of Marilyn Monroe with only shavings of cucumber. At first the image grows slowly, the slices creating the images of lines without there being any actual lines. The viewer fills in the missing pieces, seeking closure in the image. Then the artist uses dark green shavings from the cucumber's skin to create shadow and depth.

Unlike a pencil drawing or painting, this piece of artwork has a very real texture. The shavings of food are three-dimensional. In the final few shots of the video, the artist captures the portrait from different angles. From far away it is very clear who the image represents. The last shot is taken too close and angled off to the side so instead of the beautiful rendition we see mere slices of vegetables on a tray. The meaning is lost.

Lastly, the typography used in this video is very simplistic. It is a serif font, white on a black background. Type begins and ends the video, introducing it and promising more food art soon. It gives symmetry to the entire production. Though the type used isn't very important, the way the artist uses it to bookend the video is.

"Food Art 1: Marilyn Monroe made of Cucumbers" is a striking piece of video. The artist creates a unique and beautiful piece of art out of nothing but cucumber shavings. Seeing the actual creation of the portrait makes the process come alive and allows the viewer to marvel at the creativity and discipline of the artist.