Happiness Soup — Social Art Library

By

Rachael Disbury + Sophie Lindsey

Published in September 2021 as part of the extended digital edition of Social Works? Open journal…

Image description: Image in style of instant message, with yellow bar and arrow at top with heading that reads: “Sophie and Rachael”, yellow bar and arrow also at the bottom of image with empty white text box. In between are nine text bubbles in bright and pale yellow on a white background that contains a text back and forth. This reads:  Remember you were talking a while back about how you loved reading the writing of Nigella Lawson? Tbh at the time I just thought of her crunching down all her weight on that chicken and how everyone took such interest in how she performed 'microwave'.  She is so much more than that! But I like that you described her as having performed ‘microwave’, because she is a performer. Performing to camera, and she is a writer.  The thought of her being a writer/artist stuck with me... Could you say Nigella Lawson's cookbook, any cookbook, is one of the best and most successful socially engaged artworks?  Because she is such a big figure in celebrity/popular culture this idea would never be taken seriously. But if the aim of socially engaged art is to bring people together to share skills and ideas, then isn’t this what her recipes are doing?  Yes! And people are engaging with what she prescribes... actively, on their own terms, making their own interpretations! Think of all the times you and I tried to get people to attend and engage with activities because the arts organisation needed content and engagement from folk to legitimise the work. And then just feeling disingenuous and opaque.  There is still an expectation on people to buy the book, download the recipe, and make the food, but the recipes don’t need that to exist. In Cook, Eat, Repeat, Nigella says: “A recipe, much like a novel, is a living collaboration between writer and reader. And in both cases, it is the reader who keeps it alive.”  Okay so they’re expected to make the food, but they’re not expected to make the recipe. Is that what makes it good socially engaged art? There’s opportunity to collaborate meaningfully and make something new, but participants don’t have to create the project itself by providing content, which can often happen in socially engaged art.  Exactly! Shall we make this soup...?  https://www.nigella.com/recipes/happiness-soup — Image description: Image in style of instant message, with yellow bar and arrow at top with heading that reads: “Sophie and Rachael”, yellow bar and arrow also at the bottom of image with empty white text box. In between are nine text bubbles in bright and pale yellow on a white background that contains a text back and forth. This reads:
Remember you were talking a while back about how you loved reading the writing of Nigella Lawson? Tbh at the time I just thought of her crunching down all her weight on that chicken and how everyone took such interest in how she performed 'microwave'.
*She is so much more than that! But I like that you described her as having performed ‘microwave’, because she is a performer. Performing to camera, and she is a writer.*
*The thought of her being a writer/artist stuck with me... Could you say Nigella Lawson's cookbook, any cookbook, is one of the best and most successful socially engaged artworks?*
Because she is such a big figure in celebrity/popular culture this idea would never be taken seriously. But if the aim of socially engaged art is to bring people together to share skills and ideas, then isn’t this what her recipes are doing?
Yes! And people are engaging with what she prescribes... actively, on their own terms, making their own interpretations! Think of all the times you and I tried to get people to attend and engage with activities because the arts organisation needed content and engagement from folk to legitimise the work. And then just feeling disingenuous and opaque.
There is still an expectation on people to buy the book, download the recipe, and make the food, but the recipes don’t need that to exist. In Cook, Eat, Repeat, Nigella says: “A recipe, much like a novel, is a living collaboration between writer and reader. And in both cases, it is the reader who keeps it alive.”
Okay so they’re expected to make the food, but they’re not expected to make the recipe. Is that what makes it good socially engaged art? There’s opportunity to collaborate meaningfully and make something new, but participants don’t have to create the project itself by providing content, which can often happen in socially engaged art.
*Exactly! Shall we make this soup...?*
https://www.nigella.com/recipes/happiness-soup

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Sophie Lindsey and Rachael Disbury have been collaborating since 2016. Through loose and seasonal art making, creative conversations and their personal friendship, they question conventions of food, participation, labour and communication.

Sophie is an artist-curator based in Wales, part of the artist group SUll Collective and collaborative duo Site Sit. She works responsively across text, GIFs, performance, workshops, video, and public-space interventions.

Rachael is an artworker based in the Scottish Borders, with a focus on social practice. She is a Director of Alchemy Film & Arts, a cultural organisation invested in film as a means of generating discussion and strengthening community.