Eat Your Heart Out. Anatomically Correct Edibles and Art For Valentine's Day.

This week, for Valentine's Day, London will be playing host to romantic pop up with a twist – every single one of the gifts, cards, cakes, cookies and pastries on sale in the Eat Your Heart Out event will be based on anatomically correct hearts.



A joint venture from Miss Cakehead and Medical Illustrator Emily Evans, the sales event features some of the grossest goodies and beautiful finds. The shop will feature a wide range of gifts for those who like their romance with an anatomical twist; the finest arts, crafts and cake makers having been commissioned for the project. Beautiful anatomical heart inspired pieces from jewellery, art prints, cards, embroidery, ceramics to cake, chocolate and anatomical flowers.

Here are a few of the artists and their items featured in the Valentine's Day Pop-Up Event taking place from February 8-10:

Edible Heart by All Mine Patisserie:


Heart Art by Rachel Harmeyer:


Edible Valentine Card from Tasha Marks with artwork by Emily Evans:


Fanny Shorter's Anatomical Heart Print fabric on various items:


Lucy Lyons Heart Box:


Edible Heart from Conjurer's Kitchen:


Heart Art by Geoffrey Harrison (left) and Laurie Hastings (right):


Kate Jenkins' fabulous Knit Heart Art:





Macarons by Miss Insomnia Tulip:

Oreo Fudge Heart with Sugar Blood from Miss Tulip Insomnia:


Various items from Street Anatomy:


Bespoke Barware (left) and Heart Necklace from C B Dahlia (right):


Anatomical Heart Cake Pops by Cake For Breakfast:


Heart Cakes and Cookies by Nevie-Pie:


Tees by La Mort:


The invitation to the event:


It’s being run under the guise of Anatomical Snuff Box, a venture from Miss Cakehead and Emily Evans promoting the education of anatomy using cultural channels.

The Perfect Sexy Gift For Both Of You This Valentine's Day. The Adore Me Pleasure Set from LELO.

70% of men admit they only want sex on Valentine's Day, while 80% of women feel their partner does not make any effort in choosing a Valentine's gift or preparing a special celebration for the occasion, according to original research done by LELO, the makers of high end intimate apparel and pleasure items for men and women.

A Different Kind of Valentine. Pop Culture Heart Art Collages by Paris Artist Eric Liot.

Paris based artist Éric Liot combines items archetypal of our consumer based society with objects and fragments from pop culture. Pieces of film, advertisements, toys, comics and anime are assembled or collaged to ultimately represent a colorful, decadent society, delusional in its mad self-celebration. These hearts are only a small portion of the artist's work.

Three Women and A Man, 2011:

Catch Me, 2011:


Pink Lady, 2011:


Cupidon Is A Killer, 2010:


Le piège, 2010:

Liot initially mills out the forms he needs, like wooden puzzle pieces, then he pastes poster fragments onto them, creating from them actual objects in ready-made style or just painting them with acrylic colors. The results are Liot's characteristic collages, which, while somewhat critical of consumerism, first and foremost seduce the observer with their charm and amalgamation of interesting contemporary pictures. (source: Galerie Raphael 12)

A large heart-shaped piece for the December 2010 show at Laurent Strouk in progress:


Completed piece:


And as shown at Gallerie Laurent Strouk:




Artist's Bio :

above photo by Marie Laborde for Galerie Laurent Strouk

Éric Liot was born the 25th of April 1964 in Caen (France). After school, he begins to study architecture, first in the Normandy, then in Paris, at the "Université de la Villette". But he soon realizes that he feels no call at being an architect or even a student. He is weighed down by the narrowness of the academic education as well as by the cold and total anonymity of the Parisian big city jungle. He feels attracted by the faraway and undertakes important travels to Latin America, East and Central Africa as well as Asia. Each time when he comes back to Paris, the decision to be an artist seems clearer. He gives up university and works as a free lance designing posters and furniture. Little by little he realizes that his objects are more and more aesthetical and original, but less functional. The interiorization of this coincides with the real beginning of Liot?s artistic career. First exhibitions soon follow and so the public success. Many solo exhibitions, fair participations, catalogs and articles relate Liot's quick upcoming. Now he has won fame on the Parisian art scene and begins to make a name of himself also abroad, out of the French metropolis. (courtesy of Galerie Raphael 12)

Video of Liot in his studio by Director/ Cameraman Victor Lazaro



Buy Eric Liot Books and catalogues here

At present Liot is showing his work at the Fabien Castanier Gallery through March 4th, 2012 in Drill Baby Drill, a show with Michael Kalish.

Happy Valentine's Day

How The World's Best Selling Valentine's Day Candy, Conversation Hearts, Are Made.

Note: This is a partial reprint of a post from two years ago.

It's that time of year again. Valentine's Day. When happy shiny couples give one another cute warm fuzzies while the rest of the world either remains hopeful or bitterly dejected. Either way, one can't get away from the classic "Sweethearts" by Necco come mid-February. From the candy to Keds, iPhone apps to fragrances, talking hearts abound.

First, some Necco history of the candy:


Today's best-selling Valentine candy -- Sweethearts Conversation Hearts--the pastel sugar hearts with the quirky sayings, were as much a part of your childhood as they are for today's kids. New England Confectionery Company manufactures over 8 billion hearts each year to keep up with demand for this American icon.



Still it's hard to believe that the concept behind today's Conversation Hearts got its start when Abraham Lincoln was still President. Mottoes seemed to have come into prominence with cockles, a small crisp candy made of sugar and flour formed in the shape of a cockle or scallop shell. The early cockles contained mottoes, which were printed on thin colored paper and rolled up inside.

In the 1860's, when Daniel Chase, the brother of New England Confectionery Company's founder, Oliver Chase, began printing sayings on the candy. He experimented first with hand tools, and then devised a machine in which the cloth was replaced with a felt roller pad, moistened with vegetable coloring, usually red, which pressed against the die. The die printed the words on the lozenge paste and the double purpose machine cut the lozenges.

Below are images of the process today:





above: the making, baking and packaging process today

Grown-ups were entertained and passed the hearts around at parties. For weddings, there were wedding-day lozenges with humorously foreboding prophecies such as: "Married in satin, Love will not be lasting" "Married in Pink, He will take to drink" and "Married in white, You have chosen right."

The present day Sweethearts® Conversation Heart dates back to 1902. Back then, besides hearts, they also produced various shapes such as postcards, baseballs, horseshoes and watches.


above: Richard Krause, the President and CEO at the New England Confectionery Company, 2009 (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

In the early 1990's, New England Confectionery Company's Vice President Walter Marshall decided to update the sayings each year and retire some. His first --Fax Me--created a lot of attention from Sweetheart fans. As a result, each year we receive hundreds of suggestions from romantics, candy lovers and school kids for new sayings. From old tech, "Call Me" to new tech, "E-mail Me," Sweethearts® keep the pulse on the heartbeat of the nation.



Conversation Hearts have been used in various ingenious ways over the years-- to propose marriage, to teach children statistics and reading, to decorate cakes, and as borders for frames.


above: the anatomically correct human heart made of the candies by Lego brick artist Nathan Sawaya.

You can see many Conversation Heart inspired products, from iPhone covers to jewelry, at the following links.

Zazzle
Etsy
Red Bubble

Sweethearts and Conversation Hearts Candy and Items on Amazon