Here's what a deep-fried iPhone and iPad look like

By Simon Sage
last updated

A new York Arist by the name of Henry Hargreaves has recently unveiled a new installation appropriately dubbed Deep Fried Gadgets, featuring an iPhone and iPad coated in greasy goodness. Unlike some people, artists don't have much of a budget for destroying gadgets, so the ones in this exhibit are just scale models, but it could have easily fooled me. Other subjects include a Macbook, iPod, Game Boy, and an external hard drive. Even if they aren't real gadgets, what could possibly compel someone to toss gadgets to the deep fryer? Hargreaves explains:

I'm really interested in cultural mash-ups; what results when two things that usually wouldn't talk do, and what the outcome is... I liked the unlikely connection between electronics and fast foods: how they are fetishised, consumed and then discarded.

This is reflected in some of his other work, including celebrity portraits made of toast and fancy typography made from bacon. While Deep Fried Gadgets isn't as controversial in the art world as, say, a taxidermied cat turned into a helicopter, it's good to see artists getting creative with their iPhones and and iPads, and not just by using apps on the devices to do their work. Just a few days ago, a promising new project aimed to create composite images by having a bunch of iPad owners coordinate with one another and pose under a camera.

So, who's hungry?

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Source: Sydney Morning Herald via MacWorld, Henry Hargreaves

Simon Sage
Simon Sage

Editor-at-very-large at Mobile Nations, gamer, giant.

20 Comments
  • IVE got a feeling those devices are overCOOKed...
  • You're comment, unlike those burned up gadgets, is art.
  • Your*
  • I cannot believe how low artists have gotten these days. A deep fried gadget? Are you kidding me? Even a retard can do that, you virtually need no skill and can do it with a minimum amount of work.
    Plus, it doesn't mean or say anything, it doesn't express anything. The amount of hype this received is even more absurd then the fact that it's called art.
    Seriously. What is or isn't art is debatable, but this is clearly crap.
  • clearly this is a stab at the fact that americans spend billions on consumer electrionics, especially apple products, and the artist is comparing that with the digusting fried nature of fast food, which is pushed on us in advertising just as heavily.
    americans are stereotypically fat stupid consumers who buy what they are told, whether its fried crap fast food, or the new iphone, and the artist is making fun of that.
    by not recognizing this you have proven your ignorance, and validated the artist point in making this work.
  • Waste.
  • Work like this is precisely WHY artists have no budgetary funds..
    I'll debut my next piece 'Treo dropped in O'hare Urinal on Christmas Day' later this year. Sadly, it was an actual phone..
  • ummmmm.... this is art? I wonder how many of my hard earned tax dollars went to this load of crap. :/
  • I was all prepared to write this off as stupid, but the artists's explanation and analogy between fast food and electronics actually made sense. Kudos to Mr. Hargreaves
  • Ditto.
    Most probably missed the part about the gadgets actually being facsimiles. If I had, most comment would've been about what waste it was, too.
    Like you, I found the artist's description compelling.
  • I can't wait to try one of these when the state fair opens in the fall! Much better than fried butter!
  • stupid and not very creative. I rank this with dropping one out of a window.
  • If you guys were reading this right it said that it was a fake iPhone made from food. Do you not see how the iPhone looks like a chocolate cookie type thing? One of those napolitan ice cream sandwiches?
    And I quote "so the ones in this exhibit are just scale models, but it could have easily fooled me. Other subjects include a Macbook, iPod, Game Boy, and an external hard drive. Even if they aren't real gadgets, what could possibly compel someone to toss gadgets to the deep fryer? "
    See? No need to get your panties in a bunch it's all fake fried gadgets -_-
  • It's about time Apple is doing something about this. I can't even count the number of new "ultrabooks/zenbooks" that look exactly like the MacBook pro. They blatantly rip off the aluminum body/color scheme and even have the nerve to use black keyboards that bear a more than casual similarity to Apple's notebooks.
    As far as the "Apple can't innovate so they litigate" BS so many people talk about on these blogs... In all honesty, if "other" companies would actually take the time to "innovate" themselves and stop blatantly ripping off someone's else's designs Apple wouldn't waste the money to apply for patents like this. They could save all those legal fees and put those resources towards other areas of R&D. Unfortunately, that's not the case. I mean... How many of Apples current products "borrow" liberally from other gadgets/electronics on the markets? I don't see companies rushing to copy any of HP or Acer's product designs. Why? Because nobody cares about their stuff. The truth is, Apple's products are widely successful in part because of the time and care they take in fine tuning their products. Until some other company steps up and really starts to "innovate" I don't blame Apple one bit. If you were in their shoes you would do the same thing.
    Lastly, before everybody starts to rip this comment with "iSheep" and "Fanboy" remarks I can assure you I swear no allegiance to any of these tech companies. In my opinion, they are all out for the money. But, it still doesn't change the fact that in recent years Apple has been one of the most copied/emulated companies in the world. After a while, we'd all get sick and tired of people "ripping" off our designs. Unfortunately, the only way they can stop this from happening is to maximize their protection using the tools available to them under the current system in place.
    It's easy to bash someone else when your at the bottom of the totem pole. Instead, try to remeber all the hard work and resources that go into designing these things. If you do that, you wouldn't blame them either.
    Oh... Here come the "trolls." haha
  • Just dip a pile of dog stuff in gold paint. Let it dry. That's a comment on America's values.
  • But will it blend?
    (Hint: it always blends @ willitblend.com)
  • ~~ IDIOT ~~ Find something to do!!
  • Who's 'A new York Arist' at all? Or is there a bunch of typos?
  • Is it really can be eaten?
  • best thing I have seen on the net in a long time!
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