STARKVILLE — While “tossing” together a salad usually involves just mixing it in a bowl, a class at Mississippi State University interpreted the word differently last week.

On Sept. 15, students in Associate Professor of Art History Jenna Altomonte’s performance art and criticism class, along with members of the public, participated in “Make a Salad” at the Starkville Area Arts Council.

The event was based on performance art by Alison Knowles, who originally chopped and threw vegetables to the beat of orchestral music to create a giant salad in 1962.

“The instructions were rather simple,” Altomonte said. “It was to make a salad. And so, elements we’re pulling in are community engagement, conversation and enjoying food in the process.”

Students sitting in a semi-circle of tables chopped and threw 12 heads of lettuce, 12 tomatoes, 12 carrots and 15 cucumbers into one collective salad on tarps in the center while listening to disco music. The tarp was then shaken around by Altomonte, MSU Exhibition Coordinator Dixie Boswell and students in the class. At the end of the salad’s creation, it was being given away to anyone who was present and hungry.

While the class was learning about “Make a Salad” and other performance pieces from the Black Mountain College performance era, Altomonte said, there were other reasons to host “Make a Salad,” including connecting with the community and feeding those who were hungry.

Boswell, who was there as a facilitator and discussing the movement Food Not Bombs, said the event was not just about art for art’s sake, but also to communicate a message about food insecurity.

“It’s a (message) about food insecurity and the effects of capitalism and inflation on people who may come across as ‘oh, they’re middle class students at the university, they’re fine,” Boswell said. “But they’re not. Every single day, there’s a new report about homeless students not being able to afford rent — faculty not being able to afford rent.”

Mary Switzer, SAAC executive director, said she was happy to host the event as the first performance art piece to happen in the arts council’s new space and as a way to support the citizens of the city the arts council serves.

“We are primarily a community based organization,” Switzer said. “To be able to run an interactive arts experience that also feeds people is amazing.”

Abi Parish, a junior and fine arts major at MSU, helped with tearing apart, cutting and throwing the lettuce into the massive salad. She said she was happy to participate in art outside of the classroom, but also to eat the salad itself.

“It’s really fun because we cut up all the salad in a performance way and we throw it all together and toss it in a performance, but also the community getting together and eating the salad was part of the performance, too,” Parish said. “It was actually really good and fresh, since it was cut five minutes ago, and the toppings were great. … Even though some pieces were cut in different shapes and sizes, it ended up being perfect.”