Bacon and Legs – Water and pop

Fontina Turner

Fontina Turner

A brief note about my life, my blog and my column: If you’ve read my tiny bio at the end of my recipes, you’ll know that I’m also a graphic designer. I work at an ad agency — and sometimes I work A LOT. I also have a food blog, Bacon and Legs, where I post a weekly recipe about food that is tasty and typically not themed to something nerdy (though sometimes it happens over there too, I just can’t help myself). And obviously, I am lucky enough to be able to write a column here at Hobo Trashcan.

Due to my other obligations, I’ve been restricted to writing a column biweekly. But I love you guys. And I want to interact with you more than that (“WE WANT MORE. WE WANT MORE. Like, you really like it, you want more.”) So that’s what I’m going to attempt here. You’ll still get your biweekly, pun-filled, nerd-themed recipes, but I also want to share with you when food and pop culture interact, outside of my kitchen. I hope you guys like the new shit.

So here I am, trying to blend two of my biggest loves — food and pop culture — and one thing instantly comes to mind: Andy Fucking Warhol. You guys know this guy, right? As far as I know, there are few people who don’t. You probably recognize him for his Campbell’s Soup Cans, his Marilyn and his Jackie Kennedy. But those are just pieces of a much bigger, more complex picture of his life.

He was a painter, printmaker, photographer, filmmaker, writer … graphic fucking designer. But his contributions to art weren’t just his brilliant contemporary pieces. He revolutionized the production of art. He bridged the gap between art and consumerism. He got into our heads and our hearts with all of his eccentricities. I love him for all of these reasons. Reasons that extend past the art itself and into a deeper dynamic of theory and what he’s done for American art.

In ‘83, he worked with Perrier as subject matter. He created more than 40 pieces using the Perrier bottle and identity as inspiration for art. Using Andy’s work, Perrier has released a line of limited edition bottles to celebrate their 150th anniversary. Consumerism using art, using consumerism — sounds kind of Warhol to me.

Being a big Warhol fan, I was pretty pumped about this line. Four label designs across several types of bottles. Each one is so clearly Andy. I didn’t know if I was going to find them, but I did … and I bought all four. This is how being a hoarder starts. Purchasing things that I don’t want to keep but are too beautiful to throw away. I really want to know what Andy would say about that (he always had something to say). That actually brings me to an Andy quote that I hate and love, simultaneously, but is pretty damn appropriate.

“An artist is somebody who produces things that people don’t need to have.”

So go out and buy bottles of sparkling water that you wouldn’t have otherwise bought. That way, if only for a few moments, you can feel happy with a little bit of Andy in your hand.

Fontina Turner, a food blogger and graphic designer from Philadelphia, makes classy-as-fuck comfort food and consumes an unhealthy amount of cheeses and craft beers. She can be found in the kitchen, at the bar, on Twitter or trying to make H. Jon Benjamin love her. Contact her at thelegs@baconandlegs.com.

Comments (1)
  1. Jane July 29, 2013

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