Melissa Faithful for Art-Sheep
Norwegian photographer Christopher Jonassen creates small cosmic worlds out of… cooking pans. Yes, these images below depict the bottoms of pans, creating a series of “fried” still life.
Jonassen began this project while he was studying in Australia, living in a shared apartment with friends. The photographer started exploring friends’ cellars and attics in order to find more subjects for his work. What drew the artist was the relationship and interaction with the ordinary, a situation where he had the ability to make art out of something common.
In an interview with TIME, the photographer mentions how he was fascinated by “how everyday life was wearing out the metal of the pans, one tiny scratch at a time.” He also says he wants to create “a link between the small traces we leave behind every day, [and] the enormous impact this adds up to over time. I am very concerned about the way we are treating this planet. The title also reflects this. Devour means to eat up greedily; to destroy, consume and waste; to prey upon voraciously.”
This work beautifully parallels the connection of a banged-up pan with a decayed earth or a strange distant planet. Check the images below and allow yourself to think of the space, the stars and new solar systems.
