There's been some brilliant art made from some pretty bizarre mediums — hair, push pins, bullets, garbage, chewing gum. Look around downtown Cincinnati beginning next Tuesday and you'll find another unlikely art form — statues made specifically from canned goods and other non-perishable food.
Expect to see five jumbo structures scattered around different locations downtown, including a giant Pac-Man and a huge bridge-like arch. Why the canned constructions? It's part of a competition called "Canstruction," an exhibit that's part of a national effort to combine the "spirit of a design contest with a way to feed the hungry." Canstruction is a national charity, and it holds the competition in more than 100 cities across the U.S.
The event touts itself as a unique, engaging way to bring attention to the issue of hunger in Greater Cincinnati; the works become a free, giant art exhibit open to the public.
This year marks the 15th annual food sculpture competition, and once the judging is complete, the structure's materials — all cans and non-perishable food — will benefit the Freestore Foodbank. Don't expect the works to be rinky-dink, either; the competitions is headed up by bigwigs in Cincinnati's professional architecture, engineering and design community. The sculptures are estimated to require a whopping 40,000 canned goods to complete and teams have a strict five-hour limit to build their structures.
The "canstruction" race begins at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28. Once the statues are up, they'll be on display until March 18. Visit the Cincinnati Canstruction website to find out where downtown you can spot the sculptures.
