This Artist is Testing Our Tastebuds With Dangerously Impractical Ice Blocks

Working at the exciting intersection of design, art and iced treats, American artist Wei Li has just embarked on a pretty interesting experiment. In an effort to understand how aesthetics dictate taste, she's crafted a range of ice blocks shaped like totally unappealing things. Her series, Dangerous Popsicles, features treats that resemble a range of cacti, influenza, E-coli, HIV and chicken pox. Yum!

If you thought the plastic corners of Zooper Doopers were dangerous, this stuff is undoubtedly next level. Modelled exclusively after dangerous viruses and cacti, Li's popsicles are armoured with little bulbs and thorns that make them incredibly difficult to eat. But here's the catch. Though they're made with the help of silicon moulding, these little jerks are comprised of the simple sugar and water recipe you'd use for any standard ice block. Anyone who wants to devour their deliciousness has to first fight through the pain.

This dichotomy is central to what Li is trying to explore. "What will happen when we put these dangerous thing on one of our most sensitive organs, our tongues?" she asks. "Does pain really bring pleasure? Is there beauty in user-friendly things?"

The artist's concern with conflicting sensations is something she's explored in the past. Her hilarious (and totally disturbing) video work Machine Pornography is much the same. By filming tools and machinery equipment doing suggestive "sexual activities" — don't worry, it's not nearly as bad as it sounds — she tests the viewer's connotations of certain actions and presents something conflicting and unsettling.

Though we doubt the Dangerous Popsicles will be hitting shelves any time soon, we'd love to give them a try. This is the only time we'll ever say this, but we could really do with some delicious influenza right about now.

Via PSFK.