Destroyed Apple Gadgets By Michael Tompert

The most difficult product to obliterate was the iPad -- "it's practically indestructible," Tompert said. He said the iPad withstood blows from a sledgehammer and other blunt tools. In the end, he used a soldering torch to heat the insides of the iPad until they started to boil and the device exploded. Perhaps ironically, Tompert is a former Apple employee. He said he had nothing but admiration for the company's products. "I've been an Apple fan from Day 1," he said. Tompert, who hails from Germany, currently works as a graphic designer and specializes in CGI technology.
Some people may think it crazy to purchase new, expensive technology products only to destroy them. Tompert said the photography project was intended to be humorous and tongue in cheek. At the same time, he wanted people to think more deeply about their relationship to these ubiquitous devices.
"They're designed to be so bare-boned and simple -- like the monolith in '2001' -- and everyone is going crazy around it," he said. "I wanted to say relax, let's see what's in it." From an art critic's point of view, the destroyed gadgets contain strains of Dadaism and Surrealism. Everyday products are turned on themselves and made to seem unfamiliar again. Or as René Magritte might have said, "Ceci n'est pas un iPhone."