Ice lollies made of WHAT? Amazing photos of food made from tyres, teddies and tampons
IN AN eye-popping photography project, an artist has created deceptively mouthwatering treats made from unappetising everyday objects
Who could resist these pictures of a moist triple-layer chocolate cake and cool frosty ice lollies?
But look closer and it soon becomes clear that these tasty dishes aren't all that they seem.
In fact, they're not food at all but part of an art project in which dishes were designed and constructed from household objects by Australian artist TQ Lee as part of his Inedible photography project.
Rather than flour, butter and sugar, the chocolate cake is made from polystyrene boards smothered in shaving cream and the ice lollies are actually tampons dipped in blue dye. They don't look so appetising now!
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Lee says the Inedible series is a visual pun and a comment on the artificial nature of convenience food - and the fact that we often don't know what ingredients our food contains.
"I made everything myself and the shoot took two months to produce on my weekends. I shot using natural light as I felt compelled to include something natural in the photos," he said.
"I really enjoy cooking so this was a fun project to do. An interesting side affect is during the shoot it made me want to eat less and when I did - I would only eat fresh food, salads and vegetables. Through shooting this series I actually lost 5kg!"
DOUGHNUTS
These frosted doughnuts are created from rolled doughnuts coated with wax, placed in the fridge to help chill. The accompanying mug of frothy hot chocolate is really shaving foam.
SPAGHETTI
This tempting pasta dish has been created from telephone cords, mashed napkins, soap and green cardboard clippings. The wine glass is filled with an Australian antiseptic.
TACOS
Look closely at the filling of the these tacos and you might recognise them as teddy bear parts! "I felt really bad cutting up those little teddy bears," said Lee.
The taco shells are made from a bath towel and filled with the teddies, cotton wool and felt. The salsa is made from red fishnet stockings.
CHOCOLATE CAKE
Lee created his triple layer mud cake literally by smothering polystyrene boards in mud... and adding shaving foam instead of cream.
CHINESE TAKEAWAY
For his Chinese takeaway, Lee raided the scraps from his other Inedible creations and then took cotton beauty pads, dyed them and "fried" them in the freezer.
SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN
Anyone with a delicate stomach look away now. These chicken drumsticks and nuggets are fashioned from sponges but Lee made the beer all himself. Yes, he urinated into a plastic cup.
SUSHI
The artist is coy about what's in this kitchen-cupboard sushi, admitting only that it's put together from ingredients in the common kitchen cupboard, along with a few inedible materials from his craft box.
PIZZA
Is this a pepperoni pizza or a disc of carpet covered in red balloons, silly string and coins from foreign currencies?
HOT DOG
Hot dogs often have a rubbery texture but this sausage more than most as it's made from a rubber glove sewn up and garnished with rubber bands.
ICE LOLLIES
"As commercials for feminine hygiene products tend to feature blue liquid, I thought it was appropriate to use the same colour for my Inedible frozen tampons photo," said Lee.
BREAKFAST CEREAL
The first work in the series, Brekky Bricks With A Glass Of Red Oxide Turpentine, uses staples from Lee's childhood such as lego and turps for cleaning paints.
BURGER
Look closely at that burger - recognise anything? It's a child's bicycle tyre.
Visit tqlee.com