98 Flawless Cubes of Food Will Soothe Your Perfectionist Soul

Food may never have looked at once so exposed and so elemental as it does in "Cubes," an image created by Amsterdam-based visual artists Lernert & Sander.
98 Flawless Cubes of Food Will Soothe Your Perfectionist Soul

The kiwi seems clear enough. And the pomegranate and the papaya are unmistakable. Unless, of course, I’m mistaken.

I have hunch those are peppers. And … cabbage, is that you? Mushroom? Cauliflower? Corn? Watermelon? And what kind of fish is that? Or, wait, is that even fish?

Food may never have looked at once so exposed and so elemental as it does in “Cubes,” an image created by Amsterdam-based visual artists Lernert & Sander (full names: Lernert Engelberts and Sander Plug) and commissioned by Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant for a food-themed photography special feature. (You can buy a C-print or a poster on the artists’ website.)

The photograph — for which the duo, who have excited senses before, turned unprocessed food into precisely shaped cubes measuring 2.5 centimeters (or roughly one inch) on every side — has also proved quite provocative, spawning earnest guesses and even elaborate maps.

But my advice is not to click on those maps and charts and image keys too soon. Instead, simply let your mind contemplate each crisply cut jewel-like morsel and then take them in en masse, and then back again, unencumbered by labels.

Later you can learn which orange cube is a pumpkin and which a sweet potato, which a carrot and which a cantaloupe. Though the hint of green on that last one may give it away.

Photo courtesy of @lernert_sander

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