# But is it art? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 13, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-is-it-art/387864 "2007-01-13T21:12:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-is-it-art/387864/1 "2007-01-13T21:12:55Z")
[http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/but-is-it-art/2007/01/13/1168105219066.html](http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/but-is-it-art/2007/01/13/1168105219066.html) Eeewww that is gross: “Bon appetit” said Chilean artist Marco Evaristti as he presented his friends with his newest creation: meatballs cooked with fat from his own body, extracted by liposuction. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-is-it-art/387864/2 "2007-01-13T21:28:35Z")
Ew. I don’t get what he says about not being a cannibal if you eat art. I thought the definition of a cannibal was that you ate human flesh, regardless of the form it took. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-is-it-art/387864/3 "2007-01-13T21:38:31Z")
I just hope he didn’t _surprise_ his friends with the recipe… Getting past the initial ‘ewww’ reaction… if this is cannibalism, so is biting your fingernails, or placenta stew. No-one was killed, and the operation was voluntary. As far as I can tell, it _is_ cannibalism. Do the laws against cannibalism simply say, “You shall not eat human flesh”, or do they say, “You shall not kill to eat human flesh, or take it without permission”? ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-is-it-art/387864/4 "2007-01-13T23:10:24Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] As far as I can tell, it _is_ cannibalism. Do the laws against cannibalism simply say, “You shall not eat human flesh”, or do they say, “You shall not kill to eat human flesh, or take it without permission”? [/QUOTE] I am not sure there are laws against cannibalism in that many places, just like usually there is no law against human taxidermy – it’s the murder part that gets ya. Or am I horribly wrong about this? ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-is-it-art/387864/5 "2007-01-13T23:16:27Z")
This is disturbing on _so_ many levels. I don’t even think they could bring something like this on Fear Factor. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-is-it-art/387864/6 "2007-01-13T23:24:32Z")
An “ewwww!” on it being human fat, and a “yuk!” as to it being a fatty meal in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-is-it-art/387864/7 "2007-01-13T23:42:47Z")
[QUOTE=HazelNutCoffee] Ew. I don’t get what he says about not being a cannibal if you eat art. I thought the definition of a cannibal was that you ate human flesh, regardless of the form it took. [/QUOTE] I think he means that the cannibalism is secondary; an offshoot of the art. Sort of like “if it’s once removed, it doesn’t count.” I’m so not going there. Eeeew. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-is-it-art/387864/8 "2007-01-14T02:49:24Z")
The article doesn’t say if his friends actually took a bite. This may be my new diet plan. Whenever I feel hungry, I’ll just think of a creepy little man molding meatballs out of his own disgusting chunks of slimy yellow gut fat. I may never eat again. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-is-it-art/387864/9 "2007-01-14T03:06:31Z")
I’m not entirely certain, but I think it was less that the meatballs were formed from his fat, more that they were cooked in it. Fried, I guess. Either way, I have no problems with this. A polite boo to the yuk-ers. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-is-it-art/387864/10 "2007-01-14T03:40:41Z")
Threads like this are the reason I recommend that no one read the dope with a queasy stomach. ---
**Author:** ![XaMcQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f9ae1b/32.png) [@XaMcQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XaMcQ)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-is-it-art/387864/11 "2007-01-14T03:43:59Z")
No, it isn’t art. And yes, it is disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-is-it-art/387864/12 "2007-01-14T04:16:26Z")
My personal disgust is not with the “art,” but with the prices people were willing to pay for it. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-is-it-art/387864/13 "2007-01-14T10:17:31Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] Do the laws against cannibalism simply say, “You shall not eat human flesh”, or do they say, “You shall not kill to eat human flesh, or take it without permission”? [/QUOTE] I don’t know about the cannibalism, but I suspect that in the US that liposuctioned fat would be treated as biohazardous waste and wouldn’t be something you could take home with you. (Anyone know for sure?)