THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 5, 1994 TAG: 9406040077
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAM STARR, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940605 LENGTH: Long
After all, her creation, a chocolate cake covered with fake worms, was titled ``Wormy.'' Mud, she said, was her inspiration for the piece.
{REST} When Jo Corso's art students were given the assignment ``food as art'' two weeks ago, they did what Corso asked - they let their creativity run rampant. To do otherwise would have betrayed their artistic temperaments.
The only requirement was that all parts of the art be edible. And, of course, they couldn't buy already-prepared food, like a cake from a bakery.
Nearly 200 students at Tallwood High participated in the pass-fail project, and it was clear that some of them are destined for greatness in the art world - or at least in the cake decorating business.
So there wasn't an edible ``Venus de Milo'' or a reproduction of ``American Gothic.'' But it's amazing what can be done with a simple cake mix and icing or a few vegetables stuck together. Art in the form of a baseball, spiders, miniature burgers, a barn, a teddy bear, an aquarium, a lizard, the cow jumping over the moon and a paintbrush were all products of the students' imaginations.
Virginia Alas even baked a carrot cake with multicolored, swirly, angry-looking icing and aptly named it ``Jackson Pollock.''
Another student, Jen Scaff placed plastic soldiers and fake worms on top of a cake with blood-red icing and titled it ``Worms and Warfare.'' Phillip Lane made a Mr. Potato Head out of an eggplant, mushrooms, a red pepper, licorice and marshmallows.
Corso was very pleased with how the projects turned out.
``I'm always looking for more creative ways to teach art and this gets them involved in their art,'' said Corso, popping a piece of carrot cake in her mouth. ``They really enjoy it. I would've loved to hear some of the parents comments.''
One student admitted that his parents gave him the idea for his ``Burger Buddies'' display.
Tenth-grader Sam Ellis bought vanilla wafers, peppermint patties and shredded coconut to create realistic miniature burgers that looked surprisingly appetizing. The buns were made out of the wafers, the peppermint patties were the meat and the coconut, dyed green, the lettuce. Jonathan Sandahl, another 10th grader, worked with Ellis on the popular creation. Within minutes the plateful of burgers was just a memory.
``It took longer to buy the ingredients than to make them,'' said Ellis. ``They taste all right - like an average cookie.''
One student was a bit disappointed that her chocolate cake covered with fake worms was being consumed. Senior Jennifer White's inspiration for her ``Wormy'' piece was mud, she said.
``I wanted it to be too disgusting for people to eat,'' said White.
Ninth-grader Melissa McCullough probably spent the most time on her project, which she described as a barn or a log cabin. First she looked through Good Housekeeping magazine for ideas and found what she wanted. She bought pretzel sticks for the logs and shredded wheat for the roof. It took McCullough 2 1/2 days to erect the building because the walls wouldn't stay together. A mixture of flour, sugar and maple syrup kept all the ingredients in place.
Although very detailed, the building did not noticeably whet the appetites of anyone present.
``I was going to use Triscuits for the roof but Shredded Wheat looked more realistic,'' said McCullough. ``You can eat it but it doesn't taste too good.''
Rowena Federico sculpted exquisitely shaped flowers out of a candy dough and icing. Corso said the girl was up all night whipping up the icing.
``She ran out of Karo syrup and had to go to the grocery store at 11 p.m. last night,'' said Corso, laughing. ``She's so meticulous with everything she makes.''
The most unusual display belonged to Johnny Bell, who created a kind of animal or man (he doesn't know which) out of Rice Krispies treats. Orange peels represented the ears and a carrot stick was the mouth. Toothpicks stood out all over the body. And the head, or lid, came off to show cut-up bananas and apples (its brains).
``Look, you can use a toothpick to eat the brains!'' said Corso to the students gathered around a table. ``Oh, and you can eat the head, too. It's great.''
Corso hopes that her ``food-as-art'' assignment will become a statewide project next year. She wrote a proposal to teach the class in a workshop for the state conference of art teachers this fall.
``I was thinking about doing this for a PTA open house next year, too,'' said Corso.
Some of the art forms didn't quite hold up.
A jail made out of Rice Krispies treats collapsed shortly after it arrived.
A cake decorated with a paint can spilling red paint onto the earth looked more like a squashed strawberry.
But Corso emphasized that she was not going give out first- and second-place finishes since art, like beauty, is subjective.
``Last year I got six cakes done like art palettes.'' she said. ``This year they were more creative. I think everyone's a winner.'' by CNB