No wonder the spatial analogy is what first comes to mind when looking at these pictures. We are even easily tricked into thinking the subject of Devour is actually real planets.

And yet, Devour has nothing to do with a spatial observation experiment, but is very much of terrestrial concern since the subject matter is the bottoms of frying pans. Christopher Jonassen’s interest in frying pans, if one may say, initiated in Australia when he was studying as a foreign student. Sharing house and utensils with friends Devour started by showing the outcome of the student lifestyle on those objects which have been used over and over again. Yet, most importantly, what Christopher Jonassen tackles is the everyday, the profane aspect of life, these things that we use in a routine so repetitively that we stop paying attention to them. Thus, inviting us to reconsider the objects surrounding us, but also the gestures attached to them: “the repetitive and mundane actions we do every day.”  Most of the materials for these pictures were taken from people with whom he was close: friends, relatives, but also local boy scouts whose pans constituted the essential of the material used.  Devour makes these familiar props come out unexpectedly beautiful recalling the stellar environment that is space and the galaxy. Devour was created by light and obviously artistic talent, and has justifiably gained international attention over the past few months.

Written by Margaux Villard