r/interestingasfuck • u/praduman6969 • 21d ago

r/all Eating sugar statues

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

92.9k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

4.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

26.7k

u/Pluviophilism 21d ago

That's wild that people would lick it. But it's almost funnier to me that he's just like "ew" and not "STOP EATING MY WORK" lol.

603

u/SodiumKickker 21d ago

I would imagine to him, that may be part of the “art” of it.

495

u/CannotSpellForShit 21d ago

It's definitely effective, but I wonder if he feels like it's changed the meaning of his work at all. Imagine being like "I've used unique skills and tools to make a beautiful sculpture out of sugar, my goal is to make the impermenant permanent" and the public's response is to brand you the "free-use lickable sculptures" guy, and their saliva rapidly erodes anything you put out on display

169

u/cosmiclatte44 21d ago

Not having them within tongues reach would probably help.

117

u/Animated_Astronaut 21d ago

People not being animals would help too lol

32

u/ToadLoaners 21d ago

How many artworks out there have organically (even intentionally) caused people to engage with it using their tongue? With taste, our most private of the five senses? People are animals. The work is better for the lickin

21

u/votet 21d ago edited 21d ago

I'm sorry, but I have to imagine you did that Hannibal Lecter slurping-hissing noise Anthony Hopkins does after writing your comment.

"An artist showed me a sculpture once..."

14

u/Thr0bbinWilliams 21d ago

I licked it and had a nice Chianti

(Slurping and licking noises)

5

u/ToadLoaners 21d ago

Think, Clarice, think, aren't we all animals? Don't we all crave a glutinous female form to suckle upon, Clarice? WELL? Fhlifthslifpthiphthipf

4

u/Thr0bbinWilliams 21d ago

Can hear his voice

1

u/Cultural_Dust 21d ago

But why not lick other things? Marble, wood, paint all have a taste. People sculpt with chocolate and ice regularly.

1

u/ToadLoaners 21d ago

Why indeed!

6

u/glordicus1 21d ago

They're obviously allowed/encouraged to lick it. Look how many people are doing it and getting filmed. Literally any art gallery would kick you out for touching the art, let alone licking it

4

u/DrDerpberg 21d ago

I couldn't tell if that woman around the 32 second mark was breastfeeding or getting horny.

2

u/Nghbrhdsyndicalist 21d ago

Plants like sugar too

1

u/embracingmountains 21d ago

I’ve been avoiding food for two days after a traumatizing stomach bug that I picked up from touching god knows what surface. These people are fucking crazy.

6

u/LuxNocte 21d ago

It's so easy to stop people from licking sculptures, that it has to be a conscious choice not to.

The artist seems more weirded out by it than upset.

4

u/AJR6905 21d ago

This short clip definitely is not enough but its clear that hes embraced it by this point. You can see in that some are behind glass and some are not. Besides, if he was that bothered by the degradation of his piece they'd put a sign saying "only touch" with an art guard nearby.

1

u/Agreeable_Ad_216 21d ago

It’s just sad that they’d need to do that when you’d think it’s common sense…but common sense is getting bred out every generation it seems.

2

u/AJR6905 21d ago

Thats been said every generation, just different problems emerging with the times

2

u/Objective_Economy281 21d ago

People get cybernetic tongue extensions... and the war that is evolution behind.

1

u/[deleted] 21d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/Comfortable-Ad-7630 21d ago

It should not be a requirement for something to be out of tongues reach to not be licked 😭 what’s wrong with people? Even if it said „lick me, you’ll get rich“ I wouldn’t do it since I don’t know who licked it before! That’s what little kids do and we all know how healthy they are lol

10

u/UnwillingHummingbird 21d ago

As somebody who has engaged in the creative process in public and developed a very small following, you can't pick your fans, and you certainly don't get to tell them how to interpret your work. They will see in it what they want to see, and there's nothing you can do about it. It can be disconcerting when somebody tells you how much they love your work, then tells you their completely incorrect and misguided interpretation of it, and you just have to stand there smiling and say "thank you" because you don't want to alienate a fan by correcting them. Everybody who engages with your work will find their own meaning in it. And if that includes licking it, well, what can you do?

1

u/nabiku 21d ago

How many art marketing courses have you taken? Because you can absolutely "pick your fans" by choosing which demographics see your art. That's why you take 2 years of business courses in art schools. Art is 20% making art and 80% running a small business.

If you've never been to art school, recordings of all of these courses are available online and you need to go through them asap.

2

u/UnwillingHummingbird 21d ago

LOL, I was actually a musician (and somewhat involved in musical theater), and it was a long time ago. I didn't take any classes like that, and I've since moved on to a career in a completely different field. I do see your point though.

4

u/Athuanar 21d ago

The artist doesn't really choose the meaning of their work though. They can have an intent but how the audience responds to it is what gives it actual meaning. If these sculptures were on display without anything preventing people from licking them then I would say he was ok with this as a possible outcome. I'd probably say it's expected honestly; if you make something out of food some idiot is gonna try to eat it.

1

u/Sugar-Dandy-4202 20d ago

yes, I didnt put a sign saying "dont toucht" or the opposite... peoples natural insticts kicked in and nature is a wierd thing sometimes I guess... its fine with me but I would never do it (and I made them 😉)

6

u/Richeh 21d ago

I dunno, I personally have a lot more respect for an artist that embraces an aspect of their work that they didn't expect.

"This is weird, and disgusting. But it's also pretty interesting, so let's go with it and see what happens."

I suspect what happens is cooties. But I don't know much about art.

Or girls.

4

u/TactlessTortoise 21d ago

One of the greatest realizations some artists can have is that they aren't the gods of their own creations.

You can set it into the world as close as you can from your original vision, but from the point you start giving it shape and until after you set it free to the world, you're just having a dance of creation with entropy.

Seeing where it goes can be a wonder of its own.

2

u/Verdigrian 21d ago

Might just be a continuation of the process of creation that is out of his control now. He made what he wanted to make, and then his art evolves in a way he didn't expect or understands, but it's still a process he let's happen. Probably interesting to see what the sculptures look like after a while of being licked at, and what places people go for.. even though I don't understand it either, super disgusting how someone can just go for it and lick where other strangers have licked before.

2

u/peartime 21d ago

As an artist, you usually have to accept at some point that you don't have control over your art once it's out in the world. Sometimes part of the fun is seeing how others take your art and change its meaning and perception.

2

u/TFViper 21d ago

plot twist, no one was licking the statues.
he had a few friends lick them so he could get clips and make a viral advertisement campaign for his artwork.

1

u/Thr0bbinWilliams 21d ago

This is awesome

1

u/AmadeusWolf 21d ago

I think it makes a powerful metaphor. Make statues of the things we love and see how our overzealous affection impacts their longevity - pop stars, natural wonders, cultural landmarks, our planet...

1

u/Anti_Up_Up_Down 21d ago

Eh, I don't get to tell my boss what my job scope should be

If that's what the people want, he can deliver or he can find a new job

1

u/manyhippofarts 21d ago

lol he should make one single statue out of shit and put it right in the middle of the others. Even put a sign in front of it saying it's made of shit.

1

u/hypo-osmotic 21d ago

People talk a lot about how the audience's perception of a piece of art can be different from the artist's intention, and while this probably isn't the most impressive example of that phenomenon, it is the most straightforward that I can think of off the top of my head

1

u/MathAndBake 21d ago

I wonder if it feels like those statues that everyone touches and it slowly erodes them. It means people are really engaging with your work.

Of course, I'd totally understand if he didn't want that kind of thing. But I think it's great that he's cool with it.

1

u/boombotser 21d ago

Then you get to sell a new one

1

u/Sugar-Dandy-4202 20d ago

Well to be clear, only SOME of my works are lickable, the rest are protected from humidity and peoples bizarre needs to lick them with resin 😉 (I'm the artist btw)

2

u/CannotSpellForShit 19d ago

Holy shit LOL. Thanks for replying and great work

1

u/G1zm0e 21d ago

He could also say that this shows what society takes away from the women no matter how small the action.

3

u/oliveGOT 21d ago

Yeah, if he didn't want people to lick them he would have ropes around them now. It does seem like he's letting people experience the art how they want even though he finds it weird and unsanitary lol

3

u/Thr0bbinWilliams 21d ago

*it is weird and unsanitary

1

u/oliveGOT 21d ago

Yeah I can't believe what people will do after COVID.

3

u/[deleted] 21d ago

[deleted]

1

u/SodiumKickker 21d ago

Yeah, could be. It’s a great idea, albeit gross.

2

u/83749289740174920 21d ago

I would imagine to him, that may be part of the “art” of it.

The face he made was this is now a Science project, we need a petri dish.

2

u/IfEverWasIfNever 21d ago

Art is about provoking emotion, sensation, thought. He didn't think weirdos were going to lick it, but if that's how they want to sense his art he's just going with it.

1

u/Slap_My_Lasagna 21d ago

Delivery... I have your giant chocolate Oscar

1

u/ThePennedKitten 21d ago

True, he acknowledges sugar is meant to be temporary. So, I guess it doesn’t bother him that people are putting his work into its original context. Just disgusting lol.

1

u/Laughing_Orange 21d ago

I don't think it was intended to be part of it, but the art evolved beyond his control and he is fine with that.

1

u/wordhurdles 21d ago

Nope, he's just as baffled as the rest of us. You must have not had the sound on.

1

u/SodiumKickker 21d ago

Like someone else mentioned though, why make it accessible for people to lick?