Friday, March 12, 2010

Et Tu, O-Town?

Friday, March 12, 2010

I feel I should prepare you in some way for today's Wreck.

Hm. Let's see...

Oh! I know. How about this:

Think of a place. A happy place.

A place where chocolate-dipped demon mummies can never, ever reach you - much less wrap you in their fudgy arms and squeeze the life-breath out of you.

Are you imagining that happy place? Are you there?

Ok, good.

You may now proceed.



AAAAAAUUUUGGGHHH!!

THINK OF THE HAPPY PLACE!
THINK OF THE HAPPY PLACE!!!



Ahem.

Yes, it IS cake.

Forty six pounds of cake, to be precise, and fifty five pounds of chocolate ganache. It's a testament to the baker's skill that I could never get within arm's reach of this thing, for fear of it suddenly coming to life like in Night at the Museum.

Still, you've got to appreciate the humor of where they chose to start cutting:

"Hey, girl, you have one sweet piece of...[noticing onlookers]...uh...shoulder blade."


Thanks to Wreckporter Jessica Y., who featured it
here in her article for Orlando Weekly, and also to Paul J., the baker/sculptor, who's been an awfully good sport about all this.

In fact, you can check out progress shots of Paul sculpting the demon mummy (warning: a live model was used, & she's nekkid!) at his FB album here.
T.A.Y.L.O.R. said...

Aww, Bog Man finally found love!

mandy bear bakes said...

The first cake I think will give me nightmares!

Tammi said...

Love the knife in the back photo on the FB page. Yeah, that about sums it up.

Anonymous said...

AAAAAARGH!!! That will haunt my dreams tonight...

Melanie T. said...

Yep. No happy place is going to quell the nightmares I am sure to have.

Lauren Borquez said...

That is so disturbing I fear that the image may never leave my head!

Anonymous said...

I think that's where they started cutting, too, in that story/ movie about a plane crash, Alive...

JelliDonut said...

Why? Whhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy? Why?

The Shitty Astrologer said...

Zoinks! That is one hideous cake... but fascinating at the same time.

Tigerwolf said...

“Y’know,” said the artist to himself, “the only way I could possibly make this poo-brown concoction of mine any more freakish is if I were to imply by the model’s pose…that she’s constipated. Yep, that’ll do ‘er!”

^..^

The Sikorski Family said...

oh.my.gracious. That is one disturbing cake!

Anonymous said...

If you hadn't shown the proof that it was cake, I was getting ready to accuse you of having manipulated some photography of the ruins of Pompeii. Wow. What a thing. So far, you seemed to have left most of your followers speechless with that one! Kathleen

Hilary said...

Um, wow? There's something wrong about this, but I just don't have the words for it.

The Mom said...

OMG-she/he/it looks like it is squatting to well...poop.
Bev

Gary said...

Definitely well-made.
I just don't know why it was made.

Abby Normal said...

I'm having trouble imagining what sort of event calls for a cake like this. Is there a Pompeii Appreciation Society of Cannibals?

Heidi D said...

AaaaaHH!!! Weren't those things on a video game, like Silent Hill or Zelda? I'm sure I've seen something like that in a game my husband's played...then proceeded to have nightmares. {shudder}

By the way, you still have till Sunday to enter to win a free Box of Awesome. It's like Woot's Bag of Crap, but everything inside will be awesome. :)

Anonymous said...

Wow just Wow.

Rashelle

Erica said...

I like that he let the model have first crack at herself :)

Amber said...

doesn't this remind anyone of what happend when mt. vesuvius errupted?

Jack's Mommy said...

I have no words. I keep trying to think of something witty or sarcastic but I just can't think because I just cannot stop staring!

Anonymous said...

It's just amazing that they got it to balance. The chocolate may not be the prettiest color, but the form of it is phenomenal!

Ashley B. said...

Mmmm....gluteus maximus.

Just another line item in the laundry list of why cakes shouldn't be made in human form! At least it wasn't red velvet cake..

The Collins Family said...

Wow...
There are TRULY no words....

Breanna K. said...

That is seriously disturbing!

Anonymous said...

It looks like a monster from the popular video game series, "the legend of zelda". This specific one is called a "ReDead":

http://www.zeldadungeon.net/Zelda05/Walkthrough/03/ReDead2.png

Brandy said...

Why did they start with eating the -erm- bottom- of the cake?
That thing did not look appetizing at all.

~Brandy M.

Anonymous said...

OH NO! THAT'S GROSS!!!

Hurricane Heide said...

Wow. All I can say is Wow. That is uber creepy.

Unknown said...

How is that cake supported? It sure looks like it should topple over at any second.

nihil said...

::rocking:: I'm ok.....I'm ok.....the horrible cake lady will not come out from under the bed and eat me in revenge....::sob::

Tiffany in Topeka said...

I just can't get over this creepy Donner Party feeling.... *shiver*

As much as love to eat cake, I think I might pass if I were at that event. :(

Amnesty said...

My kids say, "Wow. That's CREEPY!"

Anonymous said...

I.. uhm... Well. Hrmmm....

Never expected to see a bondage cake here.

Matt said...

Isn't that the same position one gets into when camping/hiking and answering nature's call?

Anonymous said...

at first glance I thought it was a bloody body from Hellraiser :P

Anonymous said...

And here my first thought was Degas' bronze ballerinas..you live in a curious world, friend.
B.Marshall

The Smart Cookie Bakery said...

Creepy yes, but amazing what some people can sculpt out of cake!

Anonymous said...

apparently this cake was made live at the event....the attendees seemed to be real impressed by the cake & the artist....

Kat said...

I think I am going to have a nightmare....

SiriusSchwartz said...

Oh my. It reminds me of Bog Man in the British Museum. I think the photos of the cake cut open are more disturbing in a way. If I show this to my 14-year-old son, he's going to want something like it for his birthday, I just know it.

Again, I'll say it: I can't believe the unending and increasingly bizarre array of cakes you find for this site.

Anonymous said...

"Solent-Brown-is-PEOPLE"

Unknown said...

For once I disagree. I see an AMAZING work of art.

Anonymous said...

There is no place happy enough to allow me to block that from my brain.

Shannon said...

Thank you for setting up the happy place ahead of time, because I ran screaming into it after seeing that. Reminds me of the scene in James Bond when Strawberry Fields was covered in oil. I shudder.

Unknown said...

I don't know, I think it's a lovely sculpture. But the fact that it's made out of cake is a bit unsettling.

Is the artist making some commentary about how humans are just eaten away at piece by piece until there's nothing but a smear of icing left on the cake board of life? And instead of leaving a legacy, as with stone statues of old, our generation of humanity is to leave behind nothing but a mess to clean up after and a sugary stomach-ache for those that follow? Suddenly I'm very sad...

Dameruth said...

It's an impressive technical achievement, no doubt about it -- but that doesn't stop it from being just a tad creepy.

Arkadian Dreams said...

It reminds me of the Pompeii victims. o_O

Rachel said...

omg. It reminds me of the mummy-zombies from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. O_o I remember being terrified of those when I was a kid watching my little brother play. The little scream as you get frozen in spot, watching helplessly as it saunters towards you, then climbs on your back and begins draining your life... D: Yeah, it still scares me 15 years later!

*happy place, happy place, sun song, sun song, petrify the mummy-zombies with the ocarina...*

Anonymous said...

I might have been tempted to have started by cutting off the head. Isn't that how you "kill" a demon?

wv: emophote. One who is afraid of photos like the wreck featured here.

KatjaMouse said...

The comments are something else on the original blog. They are being pretty damn defensive of the artist and the piece and are condemming the blogger who directed this to Jen's attention.

lynellenyl said...

It's the second photo that creeped me out the most. I could appreciate the skill required to make the cake but once people started cutting into it, I got kind of grossed out.

Kimbalena said...

When I saw this I was instantly reminded of the Legend of Zelda games. This cake looks like one of the monsters that sits in town square on Ocarina of Time after you've pulled the sword out of the stone in the Temple. I *hated* those things! They always freaked me out when they would suddenly jump on your head and try to choke you.

Twirly McSwirl said...

I love how the article specifically says you wouldn't post it.

Way to stick it to the man.

Anonymous said...

I used to BE an artist's model, for drawing, for painting, and for scuplting out of clay. But CAKE? that's something different.

meanwhile, Sirius, your son would probably want the cake for the "cool freaky" factor, but considering this was sculpted live with a nude model--you'd better watch out! ;)

Sarah said...

okay, it's a terrifying cake, but we must applaud the effort.

Anonymous said...

I'm apparently really, really in the minority, but I'm really blown away by the talent of the creator, and not creeped out at all. Ingenious how he's hidden the armatures so well.

And thanks, Anonymous at 10:36 -- I thought of Degas' ballerinas, too. He says in his comments that he wants to try the next cake using a bronze-tinted final coating...that would complete the illusion!

Sarah said...

okay, it's a terrifying cake, but you have to admire the effort.

Anonymous said...

Does that count as performance art?

(3 days!!)

Anonymous said...

I´m glad I´m not the only one who thought of Pompeii, and that was one incredibly disturbing line of thought.
However, looking at it from a, um, distanced perspective, I can admire it as an abstract piece of art. As long as nobody mentions volcanoes. Or mummies. Or zombies.

Melissa said...

Hm. While I appreciate the technical skill that must have gone into sculpting a cake like that, and it would look awesome done in metal, and I think it's kind of a cool idea, that first shot is probably the least flattering thing I've ever seen. Ick.

Props to the artist, that is, um, interesting work. I'd like to see what else he's done. As long as I'm not eating at the time.

Fluffy Cow said...

What is WRONG with these people?!?!?!?

Tindy said...

It's a shame all the comments on the blog are so rude towards the author.

It *is* a technical achievement, and it *does* look like a woman...but WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO EAT THAT AUGH D:

Josin L. McQuein said...

And tonight on Cake Boss, an homage to House of Wax --

Mica_B said...

That is amazing! It is so lifelike it would scare me to death!!

BlueCloud said...

First, I must say that I don't see anything creepy about that cake. Maybe I'm not normal.

I see a very good sculpture of an human being, althugh the chocolat was not the best option. The person who made this could have tried to gove some color to the cake, couldn't he? XD

But, yes, in some way, it reminds me some person found in the ruins of Pompeia.

Jan Holt said...

Just unbelievably amazing! I'm truly in awe over this. It is and it isn't, ya know?

Anonymous said...

I've never seen a cake that was both a remarkable technical achievement, and a living nightmare.

The sad thing is it all comes down to color choice. Had they used white ganache It would have looked like a classic Renaissance statue and less like the charred body of a burn victim.

Melissa (& Billy) said...

....not something you see every day. 0_o

This is a perfect example of what should be called "The Baker's Caveat"--Just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD.

Kristers said...

All I can say is that model must have killer quads and feel REALLY comfortable with herself to pose like that nekkid for what was probably an extended period of tim in front of a crowd.

Cath said...

I thought of the ballerinas, too. Except that in the first shot, one of the knife/spatula strokes totally looks like mummy bandages. It's really quite impressive, but in a creepy, "What is that supposed to BE?!" way.

Shanti said...

Is it weird that what bothers me the most is the pose? If this had actually copied the Degas bronze ballerina statue - which it sort of resembles - or a similar pose, I think I'd have been less creeped out and more blown away by the skill involved.

Anonymous said...

I think it's pretty cool actually.

Unknown said...

I amazed at two things...how the creator was able to keep this cake from falling apart with little support...AND...the braveness of the model!

Psicomom said...

This thing looks like how we feel on a bad day when we have cramps.

Repetitious said...

Uh, no no no! That looks like someone stole it from a morgue. If I was that model, I'd be having nightmares!

Anonymous said...

Very comical..they should've done red cake on the inside...kind of looks like someone who was stuck inside a port a potty when it rolled down a hill..this is the end result...nasty!!!

grandma said...

Thank you for trying to prepare us for this cake but I just don't think anything could.

karen said...

Glad that I'm not the only one who thought it looked like she was spending some quality time on the throne...

JESS said...

I don't get it. Why is this a wreck? That's a beautiful piece of art there. Looks like cast bronze. Gorgeously sculpted. It seems like that was the idea too, not like they wanted a cute marzipan bride and got this instead. Show some love for that sculptor's skills.

jess said...

The fact that it actually has FINGERS scares the heck out of me. It would be so less creepy if the chocolate was smooth...something about the texture makes it seems much more disturbing.

On a side note, if you are going to have a realistic cake of ANY type (but especially human)do not start with eating the a$$ first!

WV Buleh...the sound the cake makes as it come to life, "Bulehhhhhhh"

Unknown said...

Pass the a$$(cake),please.....
Mmmm....Earthy!

Caroline B said...

That is an incredible piece of work, especially if it was created in situ in front of an audience. Yes, it is creepy but only because it is so lifelike - it could get up and get you at any minute!

Sarah said...

This cake seriously freaks me out. I have tears in my eyes! And I'm 28 years old! Off to go look at some cute bunnies or something.

Onyx said...

Taking a deep breath, thinking of happy place.

Did I mention I visit here everyday, just before I eat lunch?

Did I mention that i teach junior high?

Thinking of happy place

Chris said...

Before reading the description, I thought - wow, that's a crazy world history class to have a cake that looks like one of the castings of victims of Vesuvius in Pomeii... so strange.

The Gravekeeper said...

Y'know, I could this cake working quite nicely at the opening of a mummy exhibition. Archeologists and museum staff tend to have that kind of humour.

The Christiansen's said...

It looks like one of the figures you can see at the Pompeii museum. Yikes!

jengersnap said...

This looks like it should be celebrating the Bodyworks traveling museum exhibit. It's a great example of a skinned body. (shivers)

wv: DIAPACEN. I would diapacen to get out and away from this!

ShidaPida said...

I feel like if he had icing that could have been poured over the cake instead of spread this could have been quite beautiful. Its the awful icing job that really makes this look like the flesh is sloughing off... AAAUUUUGGGGHHHH!!

Unknown said...

I just wish he'd gone with ANYTHING but chocolate ganache, which makes it look like a bog body. An amazingly sculpted bog body. Maybe it looks less terrifying in person?

Kinipayla said...

Yes it is creepy but am I the only one who doesn't understand the title of the post?

Anonymous said...

Am I the only one getting a Hieronymus Bosch vibe from this horror?
WV: sabing. I am on the verge of sabing my eyes out rather than look at this horrific wreck.

Ella said...

You're trying to stun us all into silence aren't you. :) I did think Rodin, then I saw the second picture & thought, Descendants of the Donner party reunion, nice to see they have a sense of humour about their ancestors. Why are they cutting up the people of Pompeii? A lure for Wendigos?

My happy place just went "poof" like a pin pricked bubble, the second picture was so disturbing, like some cannibal feast. It reminded me of that scene in the movie Alive, where they were trying to decide from who & what part of the people they could take the meat, interestingly they chose the same part. If it was a Hannibal Lecter party, that would be different, freakish, but different.

How did they balance all that weight like that? The impressiveness does not override the creepy factor it has going. One man's art is another man's nightmare.

What is it with the cakes like people they cut into & eat, it's just really disturbing. Yes I know it's supposed to be like a sculpture. Maybe if it was more bronze tinted or something that wasn't someone's skin colour.

I haven't even gotten to the position they chose, wow.

@Ashley B. Red velvet cake! ROFLMAO!

Rachel M. said...

I see I'm not the first person to think of the Pompeii victims. Scrolling down the page, I was half expecting to see various other figures frozen in their ashy death throes. Yum! ...so what'll the theme be for the *next* banquet, wreckerators; drowning victims? Earthquake victims? (Topical!) Ugh. I don't wanna think about this any more.

wv: repar. You cannot repar the damage done to my psyche.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone else think this looks like a burn victim? Is there a reason they didn't use fondant??

Of all the cake wrecks I've seen, this one is enough to give me nightmares.

Kerri said...

Looks like one of the Redead from Zelda

Anna said...

...........

Just. Wow. I really did get scared/disturbed there for a second.

Props to the baker/decorator for pulling it off but .... why????!

Anonymous said...

Uuummmm, all I got is "WHY????"

Stoich91 said...

Night at the museeuuumm!! :) I would much rather meet an angry Attila the Hun than this freak of nature! Biz-zaz-arre! It's always good to be thankful, though, and in this case, we can be thankful that the frosting wasn't skin-colored (and plastic eyes were not inserted), although some may argue that a less I-just-came-from-a-mud-world-creature color would be an improvment. I don't know about the decorater being a good sport and all, but this one thing I know: if I made a cake like that, I wouldn't be telling the world! Thanks, CW! :)

Amanda said...

That is incredible! Beautiful as a piece of art but disturbing as something to eat. How so much weight stands on such small pinpoints is amazing.

Anonymous said...

It's like those life-sucking zombies in Zelda: Ocarina of time!!

Coco Cake Land said...

i actually literally feel SICK. i just came back from the gym and was about to eat something but now i feel ILL!!!!

haha...

WOW.

Holly said...

Once I tore my eyes from the disturbing yet amazing cake, I was searching the background of the second picture for some context as to WHY this cake was made. The man in the kilt only added to my questions.

-Holly

Ali said...

She looks like one of the victims of Pompei.

Unknown said...

Am I the only one who didn't think it was horrifying? I kind of liked it? Thought it could be an awesome sculpture or something. It didn't seem scary at all to me. Just really cool:)

Anonymous said...

This cake reminds me of a figure drawing session where you draw from a live model. I rather like the cake and would expect to see something like this where I used to draw in DC. It would fit right in with that group.

ms said...

This is like a chocolatey version of Pompeii.

Meve said...

that' exactly it she (IT!!!) looks like a burn victim
so many things are wrong with this cake!
really scary

Anonymous said...

Psst, is it just me or is there a man in a skirt in the background of the second photo?

Jenn said...

i actually kind of liked it.

i've seen much more disturbing cakes on this blog. this was actually pretty cool. had he used red velvet and then cut into it, would be worse, but even so, nicely done.

does anyone know what the event was?

Shannon said...

Creepiest cake ever.

Anonymous said...

sick.

Anneke said...

well, the anatomy of the pose is quite well done.

Miranda said...

Strange body proportions aside, that's just terrible! auuuuuuuuuugh!

Unsupported said...

The cake was sculpted all weekend at an art event called Nude Nite Orlando. My arm is in one of those photos ^.^

That cake was super tasty.

Tindi said...

I think it's pretty cool... but yes, it would scare the crap out of me if I saw it in real life... and only partly because I've played WAY too much Zelda throughout the years. Only partly. I swear! *shifty eyes*

WV: Ninsu. You have to be quick like a ninsu to get those Re-Deads!

Laura said...

I am going to have nightmares for a very very very long time after seeing that.

Dana said...

I'm shocked by all the nay-sayers. I think this cake is quite lovely. It reminds me of impressionist bronze sculpture- Rodin and Degas come to mind immediately. It is a beautiful representation of the human form- very elegant, and I personally enjoy the mottled texture. Covering it in Fondant would have made it cartoony and juvenile. The experience of watching this being made must have been amazing.

Anonymous said...

OMG (OverManaged Garden)! You have had ugly cakes, silly cakes, disgusting cakes, all kinds of wreckage--but this may be the first cake that will give me nightmares. So glad we thought of a happy place first. Maybe the produce aisle at Ralphs, where cakes would never be found? ommmmm--Laura from Pasadena

Anonymous said...

Ok... so the cake is scary as hell! I'd have to hold back from screaming and running from the room if it was near me. But it seems extra disturbing seeing it actually cut. And gross. I'd have a hard enough time cutting into a cake with a face on it. One shaped like a person... blech! I'll never sleep again. Thanks Cake Wrecks!

Druston said...

I actually really like it, the more I look at it.

Reminds me of a gargoyle made of a dark brown stone instead of the traditional grey you think of when stone-structures are mentioned.

Nothing creepy, in my opinion.

Pilgrim said...

AGH!!! WHY? WHY?!?!

You know, I couldn't figure out quite WHY this disturbed me so much until I started reading the comments, and that's when I figured it out: it DOES looks just like the victims of Pompeii. Did the cake maker not REALIZE this? Did they do it on purpose?

Scary. Very scary, and no happy place will ever make me stop having flashbacks of this cake.

Dana the Wonderchick said...

What the hell??!!??

I think I just threw up a little.

And peed my pants.

Anonymous said...

Wow, yes.
Disturbing, yes.
Talented, yes.
Degas reference, totally yes.
Zelda reference, yes.
FREAKY, yes.
Art, yes.

But my sassy irreverent sense of humor is also considering the theological implications.... If Adam was made out of one of Eve's ribs, could we take some of this one's ribs and make...I dunno...cupcakes?


--Semi-anonymous GSKathi

lisadh said...

Disturbing and impressive at the same time. Wow.

thepaintinglibra said...

Ok.....my question is there EVER a good place to start cutting on something like that? I assume the rear was easy but why did someone take a chunk out of her ribs?? *sigh* This blog can always make me smile at the end of a long hard day!

Tiffiny Felix said...

On one hand it's scary, on the other hand amazing :)

I know you don't need any affirmation that you make people happy, but I have an award for you over at my blog if you want to come take a look :)

Thanks for all the giggles, chuckles, laughs, and side-splits!

Unknown said...

Well, as a piece of sculpture I'd have to say it is pretty impressive, and possibly if it were iced differently it might not even be an all out wreck. But wow, covering it with something that resembles poo was a horrible idea.

--Jami

PS: It would have been really funny if he'd of plopped some down under her bum, but then again I'm not all that mature sometimes.

Anonymous said...

rjruns says:

i can't believe all of these comments! People, people, people...you are completely out of context and don't know the background of this cake. The baker/artist/sculpter made this cake as part of an art show called "Nude Night". It was a bit of performance art while he made the sculpture with a live model (who by the way, only held the pose for several minutes at at time). As far as eating a "human form", the artist had to fend off many, many, many art show attendees who would smell the delicious chocolate ganache and yellow cake and insist on having some, and when would the cake be done for eating? I guess this kind if cake is one where you had to be there to experience it. You most certainly would NOT need a "happy" place first before you saw this artistic masterpiece. And, oh yeah, talk about not being wasteful- once the sculpture was done, you got to eat it! No issues of where to put sculptures once the art shows are done and no one has bought them...

Paul Joachim said...

One thing that is completely missed by having a static picture on the web is the fantastic smell of 55 lbs of ganache! It really changes the dynamic of the piece seeing AND smelling it live and in person.

Unknown said...

looks like the bodys at Pompeii

WATERBABY CHRISTINE said...

@ Tindy - Why would you want to eat it: because it's CAKE! I'll have mine with a slathering of whipped cream, if you don't mind. Yours too.

wv: natiesse
We'll be fortunate if this is the natiesse thing we'll ever see on CW.

Unknown said...

The first thing I thought of was the people caught in the ash in Pompeii. I think I even saw one in almost that exact pose.

That is not something I want to be reminded of by CAKE.

Anonymous said...

Others have mentioned a bog person and the Pompeii figures - both came to mind when I saw this cake. What in the name of Duncan Hines was this baker thinking?!

shauniqua said...

totes Kiki Smith - http://www.flickr.com/photos/musiquedance/3526899881/

~*Aria*~ said...

The cake looks like what he was intending, rather than unintentionally looking like a turd. I wouldn't look at the cake and think it looked like a cat when it was supposed to be the Eiffel Tower. While it's slightly unsettling to see what looks like a chocolate-covered human, he gets an A for execution.

ksaldria said...

Go to your happy place! And if you can't find yours then use mine. But don't move anything!

Actually, the happy place didn't help. I screamed anyway. That is one freaky cake.

janet2buns said...

@ Anonymous 5:43 : OK, OK, I guess you hadda be there, but OMB, it's totally cakey cannibalism . YIKES!

Fanboy Wife said...

Is this cake an ode to Pompeii or Kiki Smith?

PCP said...

If this is a wreck, then so must be a Giocometti or Degas.

Unknown said...

Holy crap, you guys are wusses. That cake is a work of art and I would love to have a sweet piece of that...shoulder blade.

Lillian said...

It looks like a ReDead from Legend of Zelda. In fact, it looks so much like one that I think that may be what they were going for. If not, it's an incredible likeness nonetheless.

Gary said...

OK, time to get a little serious.
As a work of art, this cake sculpture is impressive.
There's nothing new about cakes that represent humans, but normally they are either jokes or cutesy kitsch. This artist has taken the portrait cake into the realm of serious sculpture.
Also, making that cake balance so that it doesn't fall over is no mean feat.

The model is also very good (not to mention very beautiful). Try posing in that position for an hour, and you'll see what I mean. Just managing not to shiver must have been a challenge (did you notice that everyone else is dressed for winter?). And I'm not sure I could muster the nerve to stick a knife in my own back (well, my own image's back) the way she did.

All of that said, there's something very unsettling about eating something that looks so much like a person. The thought of scupting something that looks like one of the Pompeii casualties doesn't bother me, but the though of eating something that looks that way is profoundly disturbing.

This reminds me of the theory, now rather widespread, that we like robots, dolls, (cakes?), etc., in the human image as long as they aren't hyper-realistic. Once a mannequin crosses a certain line on the continuum toward looking exactly like a person, it creeps us out.

Ashley said...

I have a feeling that this cake was inspired by something the artist created when he was is this position on his porcelain throne.
-Ashley

Anonymous said...

I think I like this, mostly because I wonder if there's a headline somewhere that reads: NUDE MODEL STABS SELF IN BACK. If she can take it, I can deal, too.

karina said...

I'll not be having any nightmares. While I recognize why it became a wreck, I actually think it's amazingly beautiful and profoundly artistic!

I'm awed!

Arlene said...

Runs screaming for a knife and fork to attack the demon mummy thing. Get in my stomach and be gone you evil but oh so chocolaty thing you! Yep definitely have a chocoholic craving even seeing that creepy cake didn't stop me from wanting to eat chocolate lol.

Ein said...

*cries* It dragged me out of my happy place!!!

Mary Kirkland said...

I see alot of readers thought the cake was, creepy, or gross or other than cool. I think it's totally great! The fact that the sculpter (cake maker) was able to make a sculpture out of cake that so many people think is terrifying is cool on so many levels.

The fact that people started eating from the *butt* first, is just funny as heck.

Anonymous said...

That is an amazing sculpture. It did belong in an art show.

Teena Vallerine said...

I can't get Pompeii out of my mind. I just can't.
Do you know when my son studied the awful loss of life at Pompeii in pre-school (why??) he came home and said ' but mummy it was worse than all the people that got cooked.... there were.... (wide eyed for maximum effect)... DOGS too! Arrggh! t.x

Unknown said...

Kilt-man in the background just added to the creep factor for me.

Beth said...

Here's the specific Pompeii/Vesuvius victim that I am reminded of:
http://www.stormchaser.ca/Volcanoes/Vesuvius_&_Pompeii/Pompeii_18.JPG

Though Kiki Smith is another good call.

helenabucket said...

Jeez! When did Damien Hirst start making cakes?

I really admire it as a piece of art, but I've also never tucked into a nice painting or sculpture before...

Promise said...

Yet more proof that just because something can be done, doesn't mean it should be done.

The Social Mediatrix said...

I reckon Pompeii's tourist board would be veeeeeery interested in one of these.

Unknown said...

Wow..Umm..???

Amy B-H

wv: presses "the image of this cake presses its way to the very depth of subconscious.."

Anonymous said...

Is it very odd that one of the first things I noticed on the 'cutting picture' was not the position of the cuts but the man in a skirt in the background?

Repetitious said...

Anyone besides me think the cake looked like it had exposed ribs when it was cut? O_O

I'm going to my happy place now. I have a sickish sense of humor but I think this is time to plan my happy cake.

Nani said...

*blink blink* I Hope that's not what I think it is...

El Stupido said...

AAAAAAAA!!! MY EYES!! MY EYES!! *sniff* Hold me, Mommy.

iliketweet said...

That cake is insane! And a little creepy...

iliketweet.blogspot

x

Anonymous said...

it made me think of someone who'd been badly burned; the icing looked sort of like charred skin.

Impressive from a technical standpoint but still turns my stomach

ANNY said...

Follow the link to his facebook page. They ate it after the crowd left.

Anonymous said...

This totally reminds me of the undead from legend of zelda ocarina of time. They gave me some serious chills back then. *shivers*
But other than that, it's an amazing cake!

Leah Wolff-Pellingra said...

It's AMAZING. It looks so life like. And yet simultaneously looks like a burn victim... GAHHHH. I am hoffied and incredibly impressed all at once.

Halloween Jacqueline said...

The Inca used to pose their mummies in this position. Well, not on tip-toes, but with the knees to the chest and the head resting on them. This is an extraordinarily well made Inca mummy cake.

rockandrollcannibal said...

I'm glad someone else got the connection, intended or not, to the work of Kiki Smith. I also see that one of the reasons there are so many comments that show up is that a lot of people post the same thing because they didn't read any of the other comments before posting.

More Smith: http://www.artinfo.com/news/photos/169/3570/

Suzie Q. said...

I once had a nightmare when I was a child that I was put in an oven, and shen someone took me out, I looked alot like this cake. Seriously.

Unknown said...

Very impressive...it must take a lot of time and patience to create a cake like that. Especially working with the armature underneath with an edible medium. Reminds me of some of Giacometti's sculpture too. Awesome job

Labrys said...

LOVE it! Of course, now I MUST watch the Mummy movies with Brendan Fraser and watch the evil Imhotep try to bring back his lost love....and I will eat chocolate cake while doing so!

Mrs. Stoyko said...

One word, Pompeii.

Cierra said...

can we just notice the fact that behind the chocolate mummy...is a man in a skirt. (ok ya, kilt, still). k, thanks. :)

Anonymous said...

Didn't it say that mean-spirited remarks wouldn't get published? Geez. Does anyone appreciate art? This is an amazing structure. I don't know many people who could replicate, with such anatomical accuracy, this cake! Awesome job, cake artist!

elleking said...

I laughed SO. HARD.
It was that silent, not-breathing-for-so-long-you-actually-fear-you-may-pass-out-which-somehow-makes-it-all-funnier-still type of laughter....
Seriously. Holy crap.

Nikki said...

Oh noes, play the Sun's Song, quick!

Victory Through Peace said...

We should all be so fortunate to create something that draws this much attention. Personally, I love the cake. I think there is great humor in the direction that this has taken. Well done creator!

Unknown said...

Hmm, if it weren't a cake, it looks like quite an interesting sculpture. But the fact that it IS a cake, supposed to be eaten, makes it creepycreepycreepy.

Anonymous said...

I think it's wonderful. It reminds me of a Kiki Smith sculpture!

greygirl76 said...

@ Halloween-- I was OK until you mentioned Inca mummies. Weren't those human sacrifices?! Ugh!

BTW, my first thought on seeing this cake was a Cirque de Soleil act where these two incredibly strong, fit people (a man and woman, married) made these living sculptures by balancing on each other. Painted with metallic grey paint. Really, that's what I thought. Then Degas. Then Donner. Then Inca mummies.

wv: lator
It seems I came to this post too lator.