Yes, this is a super-charged chandelier constructed with 60 plain old, garden-variety pickles as bulbs. It crackles. It spits. It smells like burnt vinegar—and it uses enough power to illuminate a city block.
The experiment is the latest by Bompas & Parr, the gastronomic geniuses who made fireworks you could taste, vaporized gin, and a million other weird and wonderful culinary explorations.
https://gizmodo.com/watch-and-smell-the-worlds-first-multi-sensory-firewo-1511858315
It turns out that the high water content and natural translucence of pickles—or, as the British say, gherkins—make them the “ultimate food-based bulb.” The yellow-tinted glow is a result of the sodium reacting to an electric current—strangely, the same effect as the distinctive high-pressure streetlights being phased out in Los Angeles.
https://gizmodo.com/led-streetlights-will-change-hollywood-and-make-every-c-1514840416
Don’t be deceived by the quirky nature of the project, though—this fixture could fuck you up. “It’s mind-bogglingly dangerous,” Bompas told Nowness. “If you’re near it when it is turned on you will certainly be electrocuted.” Times two, no doubt; it’s also sucks enough juice to power a pair of electric chairs. [Nowness]
