Wednesday, August 5, 2009

The Mona Latte???


How about the Mona Lisa - depicted in cups of coffee? The Daily Mail tells us how it was done.

This stunning recreation of the Mona Lisa has been made with a staggering 3,604 cups of coffee - and 564 pints of milk.

The different colours were created by adding varying amounts of milk to each cup of black coffee.

It measures an impressive 20ft by13ft – nearly ten times the size of Leonardo da Vinci’s original masterpiece - and took a team of eight people three hours to complete.




It was created for The Rocks Aroma Festival in Sydney, Australia, and was seen by 130,000 people who attended the one-day coffee-lovers’ event.

Elaine Kelly, from organisers the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, was delighted with the result.

She said: ‘Each coffee cup was filled with varying amounts of milk to create the different sepia shades of the painting.

‘We wanted to create an element of surprise and a sense of fun in the way we engaged with the public.

‘Once we had the idea of creating an image out of coffee cups we searched for something iconic to reproduce - and opted for the most iconic painting in history.




‘The Mona Lisa has been reproduced so many times in so many different mediums but, as far as we know, never out of coffee.

‘The result was fantastic.

‘After much planning it was great to see if coming together so well and the 130,000 people who attended the event certainly enjoyed it.’


There's more at the link.

Here's a video of stop-motion photography showing how they did it.





Looks like a good time was had by all . . . but what did they do with all the coffee when they'd finished? Inquiring minds want to know!



Peter

5 comments:

Old NFO said...

That much coffee makes me want to go to the bathroom... sigh...

On a Wing and a Whim said...

They probably threw it out afterward. The organic compounds and volatile oils that make coffee taste and smell so good oxidize quickly - this is why coffee made from grounds exposed to air for a time taste stale, bitter, and flat compared to coffee from freshly roasted grounds. Once the flavor compounds and volatile oils are extracted from the grounds with hot water, they oxidize very quickly - a straight espresso shot goes from wonderful to unpalatable in less than fifteen minutes. Drowning it in water (americano or drip coffee) slows the oxidation, but you cannot argue that coffee sitting on the burner for four hours is anywhere close to as good as fresh-made.

We haven't even touched on the issue of dairy products at ground-level (exposure to dust and environmental contamination) and out in the open day to go sour for as long as the art was exhibited.

Why, yes, Alaskans are pretty serious about their coffee. What gave you that idea?

Anonymous said...

Inquiring minds again.
How many gallons of coffe & milk were used on this truely impressive display?

B Woodman
III

Anonymous said...

The coffee was not wasted, since the nearby Port-a-Potty Festival was in full swing.

Antibubba

Anonymous said...

Mocha Lisa?