refrigerators as art

Cuban artists transformed old fridges into works of art at this April's 9th Annual Bienal de la Habana.

It may seem odd, but old American fridges are a significant cultural artifact to Cuba - even being called, at one time, "Devouring Dragons of Electricity" by Fidel Castro himself. As one article puts it, The refrigerator is a highly coveted appliance in Cuba where decades of crisis and U.S. embargoes have left Cubans with no other option but to simply put up with and repair constantly their pre-1959 fridges.

The fridges have been painted or turned into scupltures, alluding to all kinds of things, from revolutions to dreams to consumer products.

Apasionada por fuera y calculadora por dentro, by Rigoberto Mena
and Punto de no retorno by Faanco



Objeto soñado, by Alexis Leyva Machado (Kcho)
and Fast Food, by Luis E. Camejo




Go here to see more images of the fridges and other works in the show. There are also a couple of interesting articles about the Bienal de la Habana here and here. I find it so interesting how something that most of us view as mundane and domestic, something we just take for granted, comes to symbolize something very different for other groups of people, and be imbued with all kinds of significance - be it through art or through everyday experience with that object.