Well, it’s that time of year and dammit we’re in the mood for giving so we have one final treat for the year, a plush doll created for the launch of the new Beck album, The Information. Fittingly enough, the doll was created by Australian designer Beck Wheeler, who says she ‘listened constantly to the album while designing the toy. Music is always an important feature in my studio, and it was great to get asked to make a toy that responded to a musical muse. I’m a big fan of the new album’s ‘do it yourself’ aesthetic [It comes with a blank cover and a bunch of stickers that you can arrange however you want them]. I guess my original idea was to have a toy that worked in a similar way to the album. The first sketches I did were for a toy that had no face, and came with a bunch of button-on faces that could be swapped and changed. The design I settled for is of a toy that has a traditional looking bear face that can be removed to show the face of a four-eyed creature. I wanted to pay homage to the history of the ‘Teddy Bear’ [thanks to Theodore Roosevelt] but put it in the context of the current designer toy explosion. There are alot of disposable mass-made objects out there and I really wanted to make a toy that was almost obsessively handmade. I hand-printed all the fabric and used a mixture of hand and machine sewing to finish the toy. They were ridiculously time consuming and I really enjoyed the whole process’. He’s wearing a very stylish outfit. It’s quite a dapper toy huh? ‘Yep, he’s a stylish fella. The suit is actually drawn from one that Beck wears in a recent photo shoot’. How did the assignment come about? ‘I got an email from Becks promo team after they spotted my stuff on the Cool Hunting blog. The idea of designing a toy especially for the album had me drooling with excitement. What’s the latest with your own toy range? ‘My last range of toys is called ‘the Myxo Mob’ and are a series of bunnies that have myxomatosis and like scrabble, internet dating and Fleetwood Mac. This series was limited to an edition of 100, of which I have about 20 left. I plan to release a new range of toys in 2007, but the details are top secret. Shhhh. I have also written and illustrated a childrens book called How Absurd which should hit the shelves in May/June 2007′. We have three of these toys to give away. To be in with a chance of winning, leave a comment under this posting listing which contemporary of Beck you’d like to see as a plush toy and why. Entries close December 28th and the winners will be announced with a comment under this posting.
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Also by ZOLTON
The Cerasoli:LeBasse Gallery’s relocation
California’s Cerasoli:LeBasse Gallery has just moved to new digs on Washington Boulevard, Culver City. And to celebrate the re-launch they have an exhibition running featuring the work of Deth P Sun, Mari Inukai [above] and
Melissa Haslam, amongst others. This inaugural exhibition, the aptly titled Blender, runs until November 1st.
TV On The Radio poster and vinyl
Happy, happy, joy, joy! We have a TV On The Radio poster designed by Tunde, as well as Dear Science on vinyl, to give away to a randomly selected Lost At E Minor subscriber who leaves a comment under this post telling us why they simply must have it.
Ok, so it’s 3.30 on Thursday afternoon and I’m sitting in a Brooklyn cafe, tapping away as fast as two fingers possibly can. As I look around, discreetly to my left and then more openly to my right, I cannot see a single person in this warm and friendly place wearing a more stylish and comfortable scarf than the one that I have wrapped around my neck. Yes, as my grandfather would say, it’s a very ‘handsome’ scarf — a soft, playful, ‘handsome’ scarf. And you know what? There’s not a single damn person in this room who can compete with it. Ha! That feels good. That feels very, very good. Mind you, it is 76 degrees outside, and I’m starting to sweat, so perhaps I’m just a little … ummm … over-dressed.
YOU'RE SAYING (7)
Pete Forbes said | 24 December, 2006
hmmm… I’d like to see Right Said Fred shake his little tush on the toy catwalk. But then again he may be too sexy for a toy, too sexy for a toy, too sexy oh boy!
Elaine said | 26 December, 2006
Without question, it has got to be Moby. With his eclectic taste in music, it will truly be amazing to see him being made into a plush toy. It would surely be dynamic - one moment it could be punk. Then maybe rock. Or sometimes pop. Its diversity means that it will never be boring. And besides, it will be fun to have a Moby doll to cuddle at night.
Patrick said | 27 December, 2006
Bjork in one of her crazy outfits would make for an amazing plush toy. Something like the cover to “Homogenic” complete with the Mickey Mouse ears hairdo.
Elaine said | 27 December, 2006
Without question, it has got to be Moby. With his eclectic taste in music, it will truly be amazing to see him being made into a plush toy. It would surely be dynamic - one moment it could be punk. Then maybe rock. Or sometimes pop. Its diversity means that it will never be boring. And besides, it’ll be fun to have a Moby doll to cuddle at night.
Beth said | 28 December, 2006
I’m going to have to go with Andre 3000, mostly because of his clothes. It would be cool to have an Andre doll with different outfits. (Sorry, Big Boi!)
Zolton said | 30 December, 2006
Congratulations to Elaine, Beth and Pete who are the three winners of the Beck Plush Doll. If you can email me with your contact details, we’ll get them sent out to you asap!
ZZ
HAVE YOUR SAY
Oh wow. The illustration work of Brooklyn based James Blagden is amazing. The colours leap out like flouro socks in a mid-80s Wham clip. Read more
Three piece, cLOUDDEAD, who formed in Cincinnati at the tail-end of the last millenium, fuse traditional hip hop beats with indie, electronica and psy-rock overtones. Doesone and Why?’s layered, poetic vocals cover the personal, political and social elements of their lives; and, above all, their flatout rejection of traditional musical boundaries makes them a quirky and unique act.
Australian group Pivot have recently signed with the mighty Warp label and — even better (well, for us anyway) — have written a fun Secret Playlist for us. You can see where the many disparate influences have seeped into their latest recording, the beautiful and colourful, O Soundtrack My Heart.
We have a bunch of new playlists up on our sister site, My Secret Playlist, a music discovery website and weekly email publication in which we invite our favourite bands and musicians to give us the rundown on their eight favourite songs right now. Over the past few weeks, acts such as The B52s, Team Genius, Pivot, Jukebox the Ghost, Moby, Katy Perry, and the Dandy Warhols, among many others, have written about the music that inspires them. To sign-up to receive the weekly My Secret Playlist publication, just enter your email address into the website’s subscription box.
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Some friends and I serendipitously stumbled across the work the artist Hiro Kurata the other night and we have been jointly obsessing over it since. Kurata’s work is torrid, moody and fragmented like a restless dream. Bursting with texture and patterns, it’s simply brilliant. As my friend Andrew Degraff accurately put it, ‘It’s like Savador Dali thrown through a plate glass window’. Indeed. Read more
Alison Malone on her Daughters of Job photos
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These Prosperity earrings by Australian designer Karina Jean are cast in sterling silver, finished by hand and swing on hand-formed silver ear hooks. They are available for purchase through the Lost At E Minor store. Read more
Happy, happy, joy, joy! We have a TV On The Radio poster designed by Tunde, as well as Dear Science on vinyl, to give away to a randomly selected Lost At E Minor subscriber who leaves a comment under this post telling us why they simply must have it.
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hussy said | 23 December, 2006
it would have to be robbie williams. and then we could all stick pins in it.