M.E.A.L.T. Phase I (Meet Everyone with Art at Location and Time)

Meet Everyone with Art at Location and Time: Phase I

As an artist who participates in socially engaged arts, it is paramount in my
practice to maintain the balanced power relationship between the
audience and artist by providing an ongoing safe environment, accessible
subject matter and venue location, and a mechanism that not only calls for
participation from the audience but empowers them through direct action.
M. E. A. L. T. is a mobilizable art exhibition with the long term goal to meet
the audience where they are and to offer an alternative to traditional
person-to-person interaction and socializing.

M. E. A. L. T. is an acronym and portmanteau combining the words “meal”
and “melt” to represent both food and the classical sculptural material choice of
cast bronze. Cast bronze is historically reserved for monuments, memorials of
dignitaries, and event markers of cultural significance. I choose to transform
common food items into cast bronze sculptures because I believe they are icons.
They are the icons of the morning rituals, must have on hand condiments, cheat
day pleasures, grocery essentials, late night snacks, and ready to order family
meals that are culturally representative of the American (and sometimes global)
experience. They bind one another together because of how ubiquitous,
accessible, relatable, and comforting they are to our daily routine.

Please feel welcome to sign the M. E. A. L. T. guestbook to share your
individual experiences, stories, and history with these food icons, and reflect on
others’ writings. This guest book presents an opportunity to discover
commonalities and differences, to experience a multitude of perspectives, and
participate in a community through a visual and tactile medium.

-Michael Louis LeBlanc