Hasta La Ideas

Electronic musician Aphex Twin has released a line of merchandise that references his music videos, including a series of teddy bears with menacing human faces and an anti-pollution mask.

The London-based producer, whose real name is Richard David James, announced the bizarre merchandise drop on Twitter.

Alongside conventional products, including a t-shirt, a hoodie, and posters, the collection features an unusual selection of babygrows, an umbrella, an anti-pollution mask and three teddy bears superimposed with James’ face – a reference to his Donkey Rhubarb music video.

All eight products are either inspired by, or are direct renditions of, visual motifs featured in music videos across the artist’s discography.

The Donkey Rhubarb teddy bear has a fuzzy appearance and sports a padded nappy and a lace collar. Available in three colours – green, orange and yellow – its facial features are superimposed with a printed rendition of James’ face as pictured on the cover of his 1996 record Richard D James Album.

The teddy bears are pulled directly from the musician’s video for track Donkey Rhubarb, where three human-sized teddy bears wreak havoc across various locations.

The Windowlicker umbrella, which appeared in his music video of the same name, features the musician’s amorphic logo, created by graphic designer Paul Nicholson, which vaguely resembles the letter “A” on a white background.

Its underside is printed with a still from the video of a headshot of James with flowers in his hair and a heavily edited, menacing grin. The product has a wooden pole that has the Aphex logo etched on its side.

RETAIL OPPORTUNITY. PARTLY TRANSFER WEALTH FROM 24 NOVEMBER.https://t.co/MQ6R56NOPU pic.twitter.com/OyGgg2nSgv

— Aphex Twin (@AphexTwin) November 22, 2018

The Ventolin face mask, named after the substance found in asthma inhalers, references a music video where a computer-animated aerosol bottle floats out of its packaging and into an asthma inhaler.

Made in collaboration with anti-pollution mask manufacturers Cambridge Mask, it is printed  with the Aphex Twin logo in black and white and comes in a black carry case.

Also in the collection is a white babygrow and a t-shirt in three sizes, which feature a print of James from his music video Come to Daddy. There is also a CIRKLON3 black hoodie and a white On beach towel – both with the Aphex Twin logo.

The final product in the collection is a limited edition A2 litho metallic print of the album art of the artist’s most recent release Collapse, which features the Aphex Twin logo interposed onto a backdrop of black and white code with a ripple effect.

Originally conceived in 1991, the Aphex Twin logo was hand-drawn by Nicholson using circle templates and rulers. Speaking to music platform Resident Advisor, Nicholson said the logo was inspired by an etching James scratched onto the back of a leather travel case 26 years ago.

First appearing on the album cover for Selected Ambient Works 85-92 in 1992, the logo has been used in recent years to hint at upcoming activity by the musician.

Earlier this year, mysterious illustrations of the artist’s logo were spotted in locations across the world, in a guerrilla campaign for his EP Collapse, released in August.

All products went on sale on 24 November via online store Bleep and at their pop-up store on East London’s Kingsland Road, which is open until 29 November.

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