Hasta La Ideas The Adventures of Star Wars Figurines in Nature Archives

Jan 19

Recollection Quartett

Four experimental fashion designers’ hand-built reinterpretations of classic Benzes

Berlin’s fashion week might not have the glitter of other fashion capitols, but then again Milan and Paris don’t have Recollection Quartett. The project, under the supervision of art director Frederik Heyman, tasked four of fashion’s more indie designers—Henrik Vibskov, Bernhard Willhelm, Mikio Sakabe and Peter Pilotto—with visually exploring how four cars from Mercedes-Benz’ “Young Classics” collection play against the contemporary context. Sponsored by the luxury automaker and Antwerp’s fashion museum MoMU, Heyman helped execute each designer’s unique vision with hand-built sets.

Henrik Vibskov‘s interpretation of the Mercedes S 123 expresses its popularity as a family car thanks to its spacious trunk. First released in 1977, the model is regarded as one of the first “lifestyle” models and a precursor to the wagons seen on streets today. Vibskov’s take on the car sees an interesting use of the anarchist’s palette of black, white and red.

Bernhard Willhelm was given the SL-Class Roadster 107 from 1971 (later updated in 1985) as his source material. An accessible sports-mobile with a powerful engine and a removable hardtop made this a big hit in the States. At the same time it enjoyed a nice slice of the limelight as the go-to car for bachelors or ladies of leisure. Willhelm’s installation sees two happily buff mannequins towing the car and a goddess-warrior-like woman in front of a large frothy wave.

Mikio Sakabe revisits the W 115 Saloon, which still operate on many European and Asian streets as taxis. Reliable, yet considered rather uninspiring, it’s a cultural icon in its home country and is typically found in the hands of company carpool drivers. Sakabe’s vision takes the business dimension of the car quite literally, save for spidery wooden legs sprouting from the windscreen like creepy typewriter arms.

Peter Pilotto gets the diplomat’s favorite to play with—the S-Class Coupé from the W126 series. While the straight lines scream ’80s urbanity, this was a subtle masterclass in quiet luxury with the long hood hiding a small coal factory of an engine. A bent-wood canopy adorns the car in Pilotto’s installation while horse silhouettes take the place of shadows in the work, hinting at the concealed pulling power under the hood.

The exhibition is open during the Berlin Fashion Week, from 19 to 23 January 2011 at the Stiftung Oper in Berlin.

Jan 17

Powerless Structures, Fig.101 by Elmgreen and Dragset

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Powerless Structures Fig 101 by Elmgreen and Dragset

This sculpture of a boy and rocking horse by Berlin artists Elmgreen and Dragset will be the next installation on top of the Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square.

Powerless Structures Fig 101 by Elmgreen and Dragset

Called Powerless Structures, Fig.101, the bronze sculpture will be unveiled in 2012.

Powerless Structures Fig 101 by Elmgreen and Dragset

An enormous blue cockerel (below) by German artist Katharina Fritsch, called Hahn / Cock, is to be the next commission and will replace Elmgreen and Dragset’s installation in 2013.

Powerless Structures Fig 101 by Elmgreen and Dragset

Six shortlisted proposals were exhibited at St-Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square last year, where visitor were invited to comment via cards and the project website. See all the shortlisted proposals in our earlier story.

Here are some more details from the competition organisers:

Elmgreen and Dragset
Powerless Structures, Fig.101
Proposed material: bronze
To be unveiled in 2012

In this portrayal of a boy astride his rocking horse, a child has been elevated to the status of a historical hero, though there is not yet a history to commemorate – only a future to hope for. Elmgreen & Dragset’s work proposes a paraphrase of a traditional war monument beyond a dualistic worldview predicated on either victory or defeat. Instead of acknowledging the heroism of the powerful, Powerless Structures, Fig 101 celebrates the heroism of growing up. It is a visual statement celebrating expectation and change rather than glorifying the past.

The rocking horse, a toy originally dating from the 17th Century, and later popularised in Britain, is here depicted in a stylized version merging a Victorian model with a contemporary mass-produced design.

The boy’s features and gestures underscore a character that has its own “infantile” logic, one that is not yet influenced by the classic masculine expression. As in a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, this “enfant terrible” gently questions the authoritarian pose often found in the tradition of equestrian sculptures. His wild gesture, mimicking the adult cavalier, is one of pure excitement – there will be no tragic consequences resulting from his imaginary conquest.

Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset said:

“We received the big news about having been selected for the next Fourth Plinth commission per cell phone – still jet-lagged after a long inter-continental flight – and with our hands full of shopping bags from the local supermarket. On a cold and rainy London afternoon, it took a couple of minutes for the news to sink in. Our proposal is somehow an appraisal of the “non-heroic“, so this scene actually felt rather appropriate for the situation. Though Trafalgar Square is such a prominent location and our sculpture probably will be seen by thousands of people, it is a comfort to know that it will be there only temporarily. That’s the strength and true beauty of the Fourth Plinth commissions – they are there just long enough to evoke debate, to be treasured or disliked – and then they will be exchanged with a new project, which in turn will be discussed. Such dynamics are part of keeping a city alive.”

Katharina Fritsch
Hahn / Cock
Proposed materials: steel, epoxy, paint
To be unveiled in 2013

The sculpture, a larger than life cockerel in ultramarine blue communicates on different levels. First of all is the consideration of the formal aspect of its placement: the mostly grey architecture of Trafalgar Square would receive an unexpectedly strong colour accentuation, the size and colour of the animal making the whole situation surreal or simply unusual.

The cockerel is also a symbol for regeneration, awakening and strength and at the same time plays with an animal motif that was popular in classic modernism, for example in the works of Picasso. However it is frowned upon today because it has become kitsch through overuse in the applied arts.

Katharina Fritsch said:
“It is a great honour for a German artist to get chosen for the Fourth Plinth. When I was called in my office, I got very excited because it is a great challenge for an artist to do a piece for such a worldwide important and famous place. Also to deal with the historical meaning of Trafalgar Square was very interesting for me and I wanted to do a sculpture, which is on one side serious but also humorous to give an optimistic perspective and not becoming too severe. I am very happy and I hope that people will like it.”