Art is a Dish Best Served Cold

When Hongtao Zhou sees snow, he doesn’t make snowballs. Instead, he uses his creative powers to make art out of a useful and sustainable material.
To that end, the graduate art student recently ventured out to frozen Lake Mendota near his University of Wisconson - Madison campus to build ‘ice and snow furniture’ that look quite fit for the dining room of an ice palace.

There’s no lifeguard on duty, but there may be a place to sit in what looks to be a barren landscape.

Braving the cold, Zhou worked meticulously, packing snow to create “Ice & Snow Furniture Raised from Lake Mendota.” Following the cycle and patterns of nature, this work is transient; it was made possible because the lake was frozen and there was snow on the ground, and it will disappear as the seasons change and winter literally melts away.

Zhou says of his furniture:

They connect the lake, the land, the air and the people and complete a sustainable life cycle with less or without environmental impact.

And, instead of drinking a hot cup of cocoa while you’re seated on a chilly chair, why not eat some ice cream out of these cute, sustainable snow bowls?