Sizzling smartphones and beer-battered iPads are just some of the digital delicacies on offer in 'Deep Fried Gadgets', a new series of works by artist Henry Hargreaves.

The New York-based photographer was inspired by viral video of a Japanese teenager who deep fried and then attempted to eat his Sony PSP.

"I'm really interested in cultural mash-ups; what results when two things that usually wouldn't talk do, and what the outcome is," says Hargreaves, who originally hails from Christchurch.

"I liked the unlikely connection between electronics and fast foods: how they are fetishised, consumed and then discarded," he adds.

Technology that gets the flash-fry treatment includes a MacBook, a Gameboy, an iPhone, and an external hard drive.

Of course, frying all of these gadgets for real would have burnt a hole in more than just Hargreaves' pocket.

For safety and monetary reasons, he made scale models of the objects before plunging them into the deep fryer.

"I wasn't keen on finding out what happens when a lithium battery goes in 400 degrees Fahrenheit oil," he says.

The self-trained photographer is no stranger to food, having recently constructed a portrait of the Queen out of 1400 pieces of toast to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee.

"There is so much beautiful, safe food photography but very few people are using it to tell a story," he says.

Hargreaves saw a natural connection between the way technology and fast food have come to dominate our lives.

"Just look at the hysteria that is caused at the anticipation of a new Apple product dropping ... in a way, it's as if they don't get the new model their lives won't be as rich."

-Sydney Morning Herald

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