Art or Toy???
- Posted: April 03, 2012 @ 4:57PM
- Category: Open Conversation
Ok I thought I would branch this out from my reply in the resin or vinyl conversation. Its been a back and forth, sometimes controversial discussion between artists and collectors. Is there a true answer that diciphers 1 from the other? Is it personal preffrence or is it whatever the artist wants to call his work? I would love to hear some thoughts on this. Is articulation a factor? My collection has toys/art but they sit on the shelf looking like art on display.
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I want to preface this by saying my art / art history education does not extend past High School and so I am far from an expert -- but here are my personal opinions on the matter:
I think the simplest "decider" for me as to whether something is or is not art boils down to these 2 things:
1) Is the piece meant to solicit an emotional response from the viewer
2) Is the intent of the production of the piece "mass consumption"
I think the 2nd one is really most applicable here. For example, I think if a car is produced in low quantity because it is hand-built, it can be considered art. On the other hand, I don't think a typical economy car produced for the masses is art, it is meant simply for its utility.
Similarly, I think what is typically labelled as "custom" toys on our site fits the model of low-quantity and artist involvement. Transformers I would not consider "art" in the general sense because they are meant for mass consumption, the intention there is just to provide something fun. The fact that some people collect them, in itself, does not change their "art" status for me. I could, for example, decide to collect soda bottle caps, but I think we could agree, the act of collecting the caps does not make them art.
about 12 years ago · Comment ·
I think art is anything that is designed. Any and everything. A nice car is art, and a bad car is art. Now how good of art is it is another discussion.
So designer toys are automatically art.
However the question of toy or not is trickier. For the non poseable figures they seem more like sculptures. But since these are not meant for play, It's sculpture disquised or paying homage to toys. We had toys growing up, and the feeling of a kid who gets a new toy is great for someone of any age whether your toy is a bear or an dunny, or an ipad, or a sports car.
about 12 years ago · Comment ·
blake a Generally, I agree with everything you have written... but to play devil's advocate here -- for the sake of discussion and because I am interested what you think -- would you consider a bottle cap art? A bottle cap was designed... and arguably quite a bit of effort went into the design. about 12 years ago
RedlineToy Yeah. I collect beer caps in fact. Every time I try a new beer, I save the bottle cap. Anything created using the Human mind as the origin of the concept I consider art. about 12 years ago
What about Simpsons/Southpark/Family Guy etc figures from Kidrobot? Do these constitute art? Do these belong in the database?
about 12 years ago · Comment ·
deadlemming m that's a good question, I for myself don't like most licenses, at least not the plain ones. It's cool if someone else adds to it, by customizing, or because it's a different approach to the character (like Bloc28 for example). about 12 years ago
I agree anything designed by man can be considered art. Original Transformers/G.I. Joe/comic books were created as a mass market consumable to be played with/read and thrown away later, but a few original were saved in collectible condition. As time passed these toys/images have become part of our popculture iconography and transcended their original intent. (Below is what I posted in the original thread before I found that you started this one)
As for what causes a toy to no longer be a toy and become art...
I think this speaks to a deeper question, "What is Art?" A few years ago I would never have considered a toy art, but as I delve deeper into the Low Brow genre in art I have come to embrace it. Art Toys challenge my ideas of art, and infuse it with questions of cultural and moral decay in our global society. While the medium of toys connects to my idealized memories of being a kid (safety/stability/naivety/nothing ever being wrong), it distorts and corrupts this leading me to question whether things were ever, "the good old days."
about 12 years ago · Comment ·
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