The piiPod could be the solution for anyone trying to get rid of their addiction to iPod.

Dutch sculptor Pii claimed that the “PiiPod” solves the problem of mp3-related muggings and the risk of deafness by being “specially designed to be unable to play music and sound files”. Crucially, however, the recycled wooden device still delivers an iPod-style “fix” by producing a bulge the size of a personal music player in the carrier’s pocket.

“I am trying to make people think about what they are missing out on by spending their free lives and transportation periods – travel – locked into their own musical worlds,” the artist explains.

The surrogate mp3 has been created to celebrate another sculpture inspired by Apple now on show at Spectrum, London. Twelve bronze casts of laptops set out on tables laid with knives and forks make up a piece called Laptop Dinner, in which the model iBooks are stuffed with GM rice and corn.

Pii was inspired by the fact that GM crops are often seen as unacceptable in the west but may be the difference between starvation and survival in the developing world. “Putting GM grain into symbols of luxury and spending reminds people of our good fortune to be able to make judgments and have debate on a full tummy,” he said.

The PiiPod can be won in an online competition, while the Laptop Dinner is priced at £65,000. The exhibition runs until September 17.

Via Off Center The Guardian.