Pete McKee is taking his artistry to the culinary scene on 14 June with a one-off event. McKee will arrive at Weston Park Museum to construct 400 crisp butties – a “celebration of a Northern dish, well-deserving of icon status, performed by an equally Northern artist”.
So, why crisp butties?
Apart from the obvious – they’re delicious – McKee wants to tackle the sometimes pretentious world of performance art with an experience that will feed hunger as well as nostalgia. He’s toured Sheffield through his 1970s childhood with exhibition The Boy with a Leg Named Brian: Memoirs by Pete McKee, and crisp butties are a delicious stop throughout this body of work.
McKee said: “The event is my playful take on the world of performance art that can sometimes leave unfamiliar audiences feeling baffled and undernourished.
“I hope you will join me in celebrating one of my favourite dishes as a child and share in the positive experience of communal eating.”
Do you get to scran them?
Short answer, yes. Long answer, only if you’re on time, have little dietary requirements and are not expecting delivery service. Visitors will queue on a first-come, first-served basis for the free butties “consumed at your own risk”.
There’s only one sarnie per person with McKee himself sampling his own “creations” on the day. However, there’s no pressure to eat one yourself if you just want to attend the event buttie-less.
Wait, what crisps are going in what bread?
A list of ingredients will be available on request, but the full details are still unknown. In a video announcing the event, McKee donned in a lab coat and gloves is seen carefully buttering some bog standard white bread (the best way, in our humble opinion) with an assortment of crisps in front of him.
There appears to be snack classics like French Fries, Wotsits, Skips and a good-old fashioned Walkers. Previous painting “Let Them Eat Crisps” features a bag of pickled onion Monster Munch – could they make an appearance?
Join Pete McKee in celebrating the mystery crisp butty Saturday 14 June, 12 till 3pm. The event is free with a suggested £5 donation to Weston Park Museum, where his exhibition A Boy with a Leg Named Brian is running till 2 November.
