On june 25, 2009, we enjoyed an indulgent dinner in Manhattan that didn't cost us a penny. No, we did not walk out on our restaurant bill; we went to a gallery opening. At Chelsea's former PaceWildenstein Gallery (now The Pace Gallery) the Chinese artist Song Dong engaged in a public conversation with Museum of Modern Art curator Sarah Suzuki. Then, with only modest ceremony, he invited us all to eat his art. We helped ourselves to an "appetizer" from the first of three wall-mounted edible landscapes, a "meat mountain" of prosciutto layered with slices of whole-grain bread. Next, we tackled the "main course," a second mountain of roast pork. With a thick layer of fat sandwiched between delectably crisp skin and tender meat, the pork was worth the effort required to slice off a hunk with the flimsy knives the gallery had provided. Finally, before heading out into the evening, we grabbed a few mousse-filled chocolates from the third mountain-scape. As we left, the crowd was still picking over the last remains of meat and bread, ignoring the broccoli floret "trees" that had been felled and snatching up the cherry tomato "stones" that had bordered the pork.
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