The Aesthetics of Techno-Decadence: Taste in Avant-garde Gastronomy and Contemporary Arts
The Aesthetics of Techno-Decadence: Taste in Avant-garde Gastronomy and Contemporary Arts

Summary/Abstract: This paper explores the relationships between taste and technology in avant-garde gastronomy and contemporary arts. The case of Des Esseintes from Huysmans’s À rebours will be taken as the literary archetype of contemporary hyperaestheticization of creative meals. We propose the term aesthetics of techno-decadence to define a hallmark of today’s food scene: the emotional role of technology as a medium of excess and decline. Rather than celebrating sensationalism, techno-decadence integrates the dark sides of food systems into the hedonistic dimension of sophisticated dining experiences. The glorification of artifice resonates with artistic experimentations designing ultra-tech experiences centred on taste. What emerges is not a triumphant victory over nature but a form of critical hyperbole and sarcastic commentary that recalls the fin de siècle of over a century ago. Within this framework, the traditional marginalisation of taste becomes a site of resistance and ecological awareness.

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