My mom just sent me pictures of a recent event she attended with my grandmother in Hawaii. It was a show meant to raise awareness of hunger issues, but done so in a non-traditional sort of way. Architects and engineers gathered in Honolulu… and in more than 75 other cities around the country (such as New York and Chicago) for “Canstruction 2006” where they designed and built giant sculptures made from canned goods.
In Hawaii one group of local architects built a massive “spamburger” out of 1100 unopened cans of SPAM. Meanwhile, this year’s top winners in New York included canned goods stacked to resemble a lion and a lamb lying down together. The sculpture was made of 5,500 cans of unopened Bush Baked Beans and was titled, “If They Can, We Can.” The sculpture’s designers said it was meant to send a message of peace among adversaries to Washington, D.C.
This was the 14th year the competition has been held in New York, and the 11th year that other states have participated. If you are in the Big Apple you can see the canned creations in person. The “Canstruction” exhibit is being housed at the New York Design Center until November 22nd.
Once the sculptures are dismantled the canned goods will be donated to local food banks. The individual teams are responsible for acquiring their own canned foods. The New York canned goods will be donated to City Harvest. Nationwide, about 2 million pounds worth of canned foods will be donated to various food banks just in time for the holidays.
My mother said her favorite design was a massive sculpture of a Campbell’s soup can made out of hundreds of (you guessed it) Campbell’s soup cans. My grandmother’s favorite was a rainbow created from more than 1000 cans of corn, tuna, corned beef, and green beans.