Wednesday, July 28, 2010

The Power of Lard

All the cool websites have already linked to Ptak's post on the "White Art" -- the defunct tradition of sculpting suet for butcher-shop window displays (not to mention competitions of sculptural prowess)*. This is a big sad because I felt proprietorial about the post, having found it independently (totally not while researching neo-Nazi attempts to co-opt Soviet revolutionary art movements such as Aryan Suprematism).

Despite the Vikings' expertise in internal fat, there is no record of them sculpting the stuff.

That will not stop us from linking to Ptak's analysis of salvaged-meat products and the hyper-reality used in advertising them (subject of an unpublished, and indeed unwritten Baudrillard essay). ANY EXCUSE to use the 'Not Pork Products' label.
* "Working your way through this pamphlet is as much fun as stringing together dirty diapers: you can enjoy instructions on how to make a vase of roses out of strips of fat, or produce the reverse (?!) portrait of Santa Claus in slabs of fat, or marvel at the photos of Mr. Fleiss' "first prize" (?) 200-pound fat sculpture of a cathedral done entirely in slips and chunks and strips of fat."

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Money has changed hands hasn't it?

Smut Clyde said...

I'm sure Another Kiwi would have told me, had that been the case.

Unknown said...

Oops...

mikey said...

There is undeniable truth in sausage. Life is accurately described in juncture of sizzling fat and rich, flavorful pork. A glimpse at universal truth is only to be had somewhere between a crisp Schnitzel and a tangy stir fry. Bacon enriches turkey, and wisdom. It is nothing short of a universal truth that pork is the key to pizza...

Unknown said...

Nothing says top-of-the-food-chain quite like sausage, bacon on the other hand simply says...Lord Of The Flies.

Smut Clyde said...

Sausage, top of the food chain.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

According to my surname, I'm an expert on this topic.
~

Substance McGravitas said...

My grandparents lived to a ripe old age eating suet. Of course it was sculpted into replicas of healthy vegetables and grains, so maybe if the suet is sculpted into a cheeseburger the properties are different.

tigris said...

Needs more felt.

Hamish Mack said...

Waste of good hair tonic if you ask me.

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

modern building codes require that suet to be reinforced with penis bones.

Smut Clyde said...

Needs more felt.

Your milkshake brings all the Beuys to the yard.