"Cerealism" Is, Of Course, Art With Breakfast Cereal
Don't let anyone tell you what isn't art. But I'll tell you what this art is: delicious. Ernie Button is a Phoenix-based photographer who has been thinking way too much about his breakfast table recently. He's constructed landscapes, both natural and manmade, using Arizona backdrops and cereal foregrounds. And he's named it Cerealism, a term which is so obvious it doubles back to being clever.
Button explains it himself:
Looking at the rest of the cereal aisle, it is clear that breakfast cereal has changed from mere nutrition to sheer entertainment. The cereal aisle has become a cornucopia of vibrantly colored marshmallows that resemble people and objects and characters from movies, as if they were calling out to have their portraits taken, to be the center of attention. However, on the other side of the aisle sits the more ‘adult' cereals (i.e. fiber, bran). Having lived in Arizona for over 35 years, those cereals upon close inspection resemble some of the shapes and colors and textures of the southwestern desert. I began to construct landscapes that would utilize the natural earth tones of certain cereals. I placed enlarged photographs of actual Arizona skies in the background of the cereal landscapes giving the final image an odd sense of reality. It is apparent that cereal is not just for breakfast anymore. Cereal has evolved into pop culture objects instead of just nutritious corn pops.
I took a few years off from the world of Cerealism to pursue other photography projects. During that time, I experienced some changes in my health that forced me to examine what I was eating and change the foods that I consume. It pushed me to look closely at what nutrition means. I am much more informed and aware of what I consume. Even though I don't eat cereal that much anymore, I still find breakfast cereal fascinating on a visual level: is it food, is it entertainment, is it nourishment, is it really a dessert or is it all of the above?
Button has a ton of pictures up on his site, but here's a few of our favorite pieces. Not so favored that we're going to hang them in the study, but still fun.