Pie Counter 2003

Curator: Sharon Core’s "Pie Counter," created in 2003, is a photograph depicting rows and rows of pie and cake slices arranged on plates. Editor: The sheer number and near-identical presentation initially give me a feeling of slight unease, a kind of manufactured, hyper-real sweetness that borders on artificial. Curator: Note how Core employs a seemingly objective realism to construct the image. Each slice is carefully arranged, brightly lit, emphasizing texture and form. The chromatic unity provided by the tabletop, a soft muted gold, works well with the saturated colours in the desserts themselves. The artist makes formal use of repetition here to create pattern, playing with volume and the relationships of colour blocks. Editor: And that sense of artificiality makes me think about the societal obsession with image, the pressures of consumption, and perhaps the artifice of domestic perfection— a constructed reality, much like the staged photograph. It seems that Core is asking to consume this piece both as a photographic object, and also questioning its role within a visual culture saturated with idealized imagery and the expectation that perfection is just around the corner if we buy enough of the correct products. Curator: I’d say that Core’s utilization of visual tropes in culinary advertising reveals a commentary of that medium’s impact on consumer culture. See the contrast, though. The artist contrasts the meticulousness with the casual positioning of plates and slices on an everyday Formica table top, resulting in a tableau of contradictions. This gives rise to multiple interpretative readings, from pure representation to implied narrative or conceptual positioning. Editor: Absolutely. And to broaden the social implication, in repeating motifs of cakes, each pre-cut and portioned into neat segments on decorated plates, the artist also prompts questions regarding the aesthetic commodification of both food and gender. Curator: "Pie Counter", then, is more than an exercise in photography and image design, it asks for our sustained scrutiny. Editor: Indeed; I found the conversation as digestible and enjoyable as, well, a slice of warm apple pie!