I Am Plastic: The Designer Toy
Explosion
Paul Budnitz
Harry N. Abrams, Inc 2006
Reviewer: Michelle Taylor
This
wonderful book is a visual exploration of the designer toy phenomenon. Starting
in Hong Kong and Japan in the latter half of the 1990s, the movement has since
spread around the world like wildfire, with artists working in Asia, Europe,
North America and Australia. Artists and designers from various creative
backgrounds have all contributed to this fresh and exiting contemporary art
movement; from comic book artists and underground illustrators to graffiti
artists and those with a background in the so called fine arts, it is indeed a
diverse and vibrant phenomenon.
Coming
in two basic forms; vinyl figures and plush toys, a bewildering variety of
objects have been created that cater for all tastes... wood, resin, metal,
cloth and latex designer toys are also occasionally made. On first glance many
people would assume that they are just silly toys, but the closer one looks,
the more one starts to appreciate that they are truly unique artistic
creations; so don't let the fact that they are colourful, stylized and plastic
fool you! Made in relatively small numbers of anywhere between as few as 10 and
as many as 2000; they are highly sought after by the serious collector, and
quickly become rare and desirable objects.
Many
designer toys also come in a selection of different colourways; also of limited
runs of anywhere between 20 and 500 at most, and vinyl figures can also come in
a wide range of shapes and sizes with some as small as 2 inches and others as
large as 12 inches. For me vinyl figures especially appeal to my artistic
sensibilities with their playful sculptural quality; and very postmodern sense
of aesthetics, I also really love the fact that they blur the line between what
is traditionally considered highbrow and lowbrow art. Many designer toys play on
the cute factor; but also have a darker edge, and others still challenge ones
sense of what is considered to be beautiful or tasteful. Most of the toys are
given a detailed back story and history that adds to their appeal; and in many
instances there will be a related cast of characters as well, or slightly
different versions of the same character. Although none are included in this
book; three such examples are the two Scavenger Series by Kathie Olivas, Dave
Pressler's two WWII inspired German and Soviet Angry Clobber Monkey's and
Andrew Bell's confronting and pessimistic The Giver of War and The Giver of
Disease. An example that is included in this book is the Minitreehouse Series;
created by the brilliant Australian artist Nathan Jurevicius, who is now based
in Toronto Canada.
After
more than a decade now the designer toy movement is still going as strong as
ever; with more and more artists creating their own distinctive vinyl figures
or plushies, which will make fans and aficionados very happy indeed! My only
fear is that large entertainment corporations might cotton on and try to muscle
in on this phenomenon; and thus squeeze out the independent artists that have
made this vibrant movement what it is today, but hopefully that is an unlikely
scenario. Another name for designer toys, and vinyl figures in particular is
urban vinyl, a term that arises from the fact that many artists are inspired by
hip hop culture and that most of these artists, and most of the people who
collect their creations are trendy urbanites. Paul Budnitz's wonderfully cool
book covers the work of many artists from all over the globe right up until the
date of its publication (2006) there is also a short introduction in the first
few pages that succinctly explains what designer toys are all about; and the
rest of the book is taken up by a dazzling full colour portfolio that is
categorized by region, and then by artist or company. The details of each
artist or maker are included on the top left hand corner of every few pages,
that provides important info and even websites. I also hope that at some future
date a revised and expanded edition will be published; or even better an I Am Plastic: Volume Two, especially
considering how many new toys have been made in the intervening years. I Am Plastic: The Designer Toy Explosion
is an amazing visual exploration of the designer toy phenomenon that will be
valued for many years to come by collectors and artists alike; so if you are
hip enough to appreciate the aesthetics of this postmodernist art form, this
sumptuous coffee table book should definitely be on your wishlist.
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This review will appear in Volume 2 No.6 (2009) of the digital and
print edition of Synergy Magazine.
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