To anyone who considers macaroni art a kindergarten habit, prepare to eat your words — and feel an urge to eat more than just that. Artists Caitlin Levin and Henry Hargreaves might have been preschool Picassos (this claim is totally unsubstantiated, but probably true, right?), but they’ve since graduated into veritable artists, shaping and photographing art created from their favored medium: food.
Their project Food Maps is just what the title suggests: a series of detailed maps of different countries and continents, created from the delicacies for which each place is known. The United States’ map is a glorious quilt of wheat and corn that would have made a splendid centerpiece at the first Thanksgiving. And when looking at the richly colored mosaic of spices that form India, you might get a phantom taste of curry on your tongue.
According to Hargreaves and Levin’s website, “These maps show how food has traveled the globe — transforming and becoming a part of the cultural identity of that place.” To that, we’d add that these foods should conclude their global journeys with a trip into our bellies.
Image credit: Caitlin Levin and Henry Hargreaves
Image credit: Caitlin Levin and Henry Hargreaves
Image credit: Caitlin Levin and Henry Hargreaves
Image credit: Caitlin Levin and Henry Hargreaves
Image credit: Caitlin Levin and Henry Hargreaves
Image credit: Caitlin Levin and Henry Hargreaves
Image credit: Caitlin Levin and Henry Hargreaves
Image credit: Caitlin Levin and Henry Hargreaves
Image credit: Caitlin Levin and Henry Hargreaves
Image credit: Caitlin Levin and Henry Hargreaves
Image credit: Caitlin Levin and Henry Hargreaves