IN THE BAG - Noise Festival

IN
THE
BAG
In The Bag.indd 1
26/5/06 1:35:19 am
Contents: Playlounge, Maharishi, Michael Lau, James Jarvis, Best & DVD Toy Special.
IN TOYS
WE TRUST.
Aren’t just for kids, they’re the centerpieces of a new movement with its
own culture, rivalries, heroes, and superstars. Called “Urban vinyl Toys”
or “Designer Toys”, created by world famous artists in the USA, Japan,
Hong Kong, and Europe.
The Urban Toy scene was born in
1997 when designer Michael Lau
showed up at a Hong Kong toy show
with a handful of GI-Joes he’d customized into hip-hop street fashion
figures. Things exploded from there,
and artists from Hong Kong and
Japan began making their own limited
toys, mostly in rotocast vinyl. Many
of these toys are still made for small
retail stores in Asia. Each shop has its
own particular artist that they support,
and competition can be vicious.
100 pieces or less, so once a toy is
gone, it’s gone forever. A search for
some of Michael Lau’s early creations
online will lead you to auctions where
serious collectors are willing to pay up
to £5,000 for one of his original Gardeneragala figures. Toys range from
about £4 to £400, and many actually
appreciate in value over time!
Over the past few years Urban toys
have hit the USA & Europe. As a
result, some artists like Michael Lau &
Jason Siu (Hong Kong), James Jarvis
(UK), Seen and Tristan Eaton (USA)
have become celebrities in their own
rights. Artists have begun branching
out into mini-figures such as Kubricks
& Qees, as well as plush toys, 12” figures, and even good old plastic. Sony
Japan recently launched their Time
Capsule project, producing capsule
toys for Japanese vending machines
with Western & Japanese artists.
Many of our toys are extremely rare
and collectible. An artist may choose
to create a series of only 500, 300,
Toy Designed by Kaws
www.kawsone.com
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Play
Lounge
At Playlounge big people are as important as little people.
Essentially this is a toyshop - however the owners have taken care not
to leave the older generation out of the equation.
PThe products are, innovative,
fun-packed, design-conscious and
educational and they are constantly
on the look out for new and exciting
material!
Stepping into the Playlounge store,
which was opened in November
2002, it’s hard not to feel like a complete kid again, with its abundant and
eclectic displays of weird and wonderful looking toys. The guys who run
Playlounge are also always on hand
to demonstrate the toys for you.
Upon chatting to Aidan, one of the
three owners of Playlounge, we were
given a brief insight into what motivated them to open Playlounge in the
first place, as well as the kind of toys
they sell and the type of people that
make up their fast growing customer
base.
Aidan explains to us that his own
personal motivation and inspiration for starting up Playlounge was his experience
growing up in Hong Kong
and personal interest in
the kind of toys that for so
long were only being sold
in Asia.
The idea behind Playlounge was to
bring these interesting and original
toys from Asia, and more recently
from other countries worldwide where
a growing number of companies are
being inspired by the same styles, to
the UK where there was otherwise
very little exposure for these unique
toys before. A large proportion of the
shop’s customer base is made up of
design savvy individuals, and more
often than not, those who have an
interest in, or who are inspired by,
Asian and Japanese culture.
www.playlounge.co.uk
Contents of bag clockwise: Playlounge poster and collector card, Knuckle Bear figure, Gloomy
Bear key chains, Garden Magazine, Clutter Magazine, James Jarvis poster.
In The Bag.indd 4-5
26/5/06 1:35:24 am
Maharishi
Maharishi
‘Maha’ in Sanskrit means ‘great’, ‘rishi’ in Sanskrit means ‘seer’ or ‘visionary’
The flagship store was opened on
floral street in September 2001.
The merging of eastern influences
with a raw industrial edge naturally
depicts the ethos with the use of
spray painted bamboo units positioned against backgrounds of bare
brickwork. The store holds men and
women main line collections covering
two floors alongside visual artwork
from the current and past collaborators, including camourflage beanbags
and graffiti based paintings. Books
displayed reflect subjects that are
close to the company’s heart. Japanese Art, sacred Geometry, army uniforms and action man are just some
of the titles that can be purchased, as
well as a selection of rare Japanese
toys.
The environment creates a personal,
warm and relaxed ambience, with
surroundings that are inspired by spiritual philosophies fused with skill and
ingenuity, resulting in the creation of
a unique space.
www.emaharishi.com
A lived in feel that allows the customer free access to browse through
the collection and also sit and read
through a book. The store reflects
Contents of bag clockwise: Frank Magazine, Garden Magazine, Store map, Shop card.
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Michael
Lau
Is an award-winning, Hong Kong-based artist who has captured the
attention of artists, designers, musicians, toy manufacturers and street
culture the world over.
Michael graduated from the Design
First Institute in 1992. He worked as a
painter, having some work featured in
galleries around Hong Kong. Michael
eventually moved on to window
display designer and advertising. In
1997 he did his first 3D work on the
cover of the Anodize music album.
Previously his figure work was only
seen by his friends and never put out
for display. In 1998 Michael began
the Gardener comic strip in East
Touch magazine. Eventually all of
the characters he illustrated became
figures.
There is an understanding of the
culture and detail in every figure he
has created.
www.michaellau-art.com
His primary medium now is the 12”
figure. All of the bodies, clothes, accessories and heads are handmade
by Michael. He has featured kids,
basketball players, graffiti artists,
rappers, Dj’s, skateboarders, snow
boarders and wake boarders in his
collections. Their clothes reflective
of many of the top brands in those
fields. I.E. His skateboarders wear
shoes by DC and clothes by Alphanumeric. His snow boarders ride Burton
snow boards. Some even wear very
trendy fashions from Bathing Ape,
Maharishi, Saru and Zero Nine.
In The Bag.indd 8-9
26/5/06 1:35:29 am
James
Jarvis
Inspired by classic cartoons like Tintin and Popeye, the British illustrator
has created his own three-dimensional casts of characters as the World
of Pain and In-Crowd plastic toys. He also invents imaginary worlds for
his characters each of whom has their own role and personality.
James Jarvis dreamed up a group
of bikers as a new collection of
the plastic In-Crowd characters he
designs for the toy company Amos,
he pictured them as “reasonable,
sound, sane, wise, balanced, rational,
sagacious, prudent, judicious and
level-headed”. He even invented a
club for these do-gooding bikers – the
Forever Sensible Motorcycle Club.
The members of the Forever Sensible
Motorcycle Club, like the musicians
in Ages of Metal, his next In-Crowd
characters, stem from the drawings
that Jarvis has created since childhood. He was inspired to start drawing by his love of illustrated books
such as Tintin, Rupert the Bear and
The Tale of Peter the Rabbit. Born
in London in 1970, Jarvis went on to
study illustration at the University of
Brighton and then at the Royal College of Art in London.
drawn in simple, sparing strokes in
his illustrations into toys which he
did by creating the engagingly raffish
Martin, a moulded plastic model, for
the London-based fashion company
Silas. Jarvis then developed equally
engaging characters to live with Martin in the World of Pain, the imaginary
world inspired by Tolkien’s Lord of
the Rings which he invented for them
and depicted in a book and website.
Eager to create different characters,
who would not necessarily fit in to the
World of Pain, he then invented the
In-Crowd series of figures.
homepage.mac.com/james.jarvis
www.amostoys.com
A Japanese friend suggested that
Jarvis should turn the characters
In The Bag.indd 10-11
26/5/06 1:35:30 am
Best
The small independent shop that sells unique and rare items that aren’t
really seen on a mass scale.
One shop floor jam packed with
underground wonders of the world,
owner Niki Wadden. Formerly the
buyer at design group Artomatic,
Niki has worked with and brokered
work for some of the biggest and
best-known street and contemporary
artists and art collectives helping her
amass an unparalleled collection. In
addition to this stellar cast, a number
of special guests have also been
invited to create new work especially
for Best in Show. All in all, this is a
unique chance for fans to see, experience and own work by some of the
iconoclasts of graffiti and graphic art,
as well as appreciate Best’s status as
the current hub of this scene in the
UK.
Best is about the Best of everything…
design, illustration, Graffiti, books,
magazines, clothing, accessories,
Toys, prints, and much more.
Every six weeks the store is turned
into an exhibition space for already
established and emerging graffiti
artists and graphic designers from
around many countries.
www.bestshopever.com
Contents of bag clockwise: Zebra-Face Stickers, Obey Stickers, “Hello My Name is” Stickers,
Zebra-Face Comic Book, Insa Postcard and Invitation, Sheriff Badge, Best Postcard.
In The Bag.indd 12-13
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DVD
In The Bag.indd 14-15
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In The Bag.indd 16
26/5/06 1:35:41 am