Is This Bacon Art For Consumption Or Introspection?

Perhaps Simone Racheli doesn't even know that bacon scarves are a craze and that the bacon scarf designers wish that their creations looked as realistic as Racheli's sculptures. What he has created, though, are sculptures of inanimate objects, that have animal (and human) insides, like fat, meat, guts, bones... And, like animals prepared for consumption, their skins have been removed.

On display at the Paola Maria Deanesi Gallery in Northern Italy, these full-size (dare I write life-size?) sculptures of every day items are an interesting portrayal of Racheli's views on the human and animal condition, which I will not speculate upon. Racheli used several different materials to create each sculpture, but no animal or human byproducts.

1. Telaio Bicicletta Sculpture, 2006

The Bicycle Frame, with no shiny chrome coating, only bacon! Made of metal, wax, and paper mache. The Bicycle Frame sculpture is about 4 feet long and 30 inches high.

2. Frullino Sculpture, 2006

My first impression was of a rabbit, but this is a food Mixer made of metal, wax, and paper mache. The Mixer is exposed, without bright plastic or chrome, but very detailed inner workings, measures almost full-size... about 10 by 7 inches.

3. The Poltrana Sculpture, 2006

The Chair, made of cellulose fiber, paper mache, and wax. Yes, it's full size, but I'm not sure you can sit on it. The Chair has enough surface to make it really look like a large skinned animal.

4. Ferro da Stiro Sculpture, 2006

The Iron is mostly paper mache and wax, but plastic rounds with holes for the steam add realism to the Iron's function. Fully sized, as well.

5. The Water Closet Sculpture, 2006

Racheli actually titled this sculpture in English with the British phrase for toilet - Water Closet. Again, it's life-size, but how much weight a paper mache sculpture holds... well, I don't know. What is the Water Closet holding on it's rear portion? I assume that it is supposed to be the tank of the toilet, but nude as it is, the figure looks like a chicken or other fowl.

6. Asciugacapelli Sculpture, 2006

The Hairdryer, made with the smallest bit of plastic, plus paper mache and wax, looks like a large thigh bone of a turkey, with its surplus skin folded up.

To many, Simone Racheli's "meat sculpture" are works of ridicule, but I don't think they were intended to be funny or part of the "what can be made of bacon" craze. That's my opinion, of course. Feel free to share yours below!

sources:  Paola Maria Deanesi Gallery, Espoarte 44, Italian Wikipedia, Wiktionary,