They say everything is better when it is deep fried, but is this true? One artist tries to answer that question by deep frying popular electronic equipment. Tempura-battered iPad anyone?
When you think about the fair, of course you think about the rides, the (horribly rigged) games, and that dude that tries to guess your weight. But you also think about the deep fried foods that sends your arties screaming for a day – deep fried dough, deep fried bananas, deep fried Snickers, Oreos, and even deep fried ice cream. And while an Oreo cookie may taste so much better when covered in the yumminess that is deep fried goodness, tempura battering your iPhone may not necessarily be the best choice, unless you are into deep fried gadgets.
Brooklyn/New Zealand photographer Henry Hargreaves once heard of an experiment where various electronics were cooked and then eaten. Obviously, it did not pan out so well. But Hargreaves opted to give this a try. He said:
“I love to work with food in photography, to me there is so much potential in the genre for storytelling by mashing up opposite components and forcing the viewer to look at things differently. With this series I guess there is a comment about consumption and the similarities with the way we are obsessed with the ‘new’ gadget. We get it, are obsessed by it and then discard it. Just like fast food! But at the end of the day, I hope people just get a kick out of seeing some fun pictures!”
But here at Walyou, we do not suggest that you go buy a deep fryer and start dunking old electronics in a bowl of batter. To avoid the possibility of any danger associated with frying unknown materials and components, Hargreaves actually recreated the gadgets by taking foam boards and overlaying them with pictures of the item. The result is a fun, thought provoking project. Bon Apetit!
For more interesting stories, read about musical instruments made from vegetables or some really yummy geeky lunches!
