DigesTED

Founded in 2002 by designer Paul Budnitz, Kidrobot is the world's premier creator of limited edition art toys and apparel. Kidrobot creates toys, apparel, accessories, and other products in collaboration with many of the world's most talented artists and designers. The products sold at Kidrobot are the centerpieces of a global movement that exemplifies the cutting edge of both pop art and mass culture. Many Kidrobot toys, such as Dunny, MUNNY, and Frank Kozik's Labbits and Mongers, attract huge followings. Artists that work with Kidrobot have gained celebrity status-these include USA artists Frank Kozik, Tim Biskup, Huck Gee, Joe Ledbetter, Tristan Eaton, Paul Budnitz, and Tara McPherson; the German design collective eBoy; Japan's Devilrobots & Mad Barbarians; French street artists Tilt & Mist; the UK's TADO and ilovedust; Australia's Nathan Jurevicius; Argentina's DOMA; and many, many others. Kidrobot also regularly collaborates with many of the world's top brands to create unique limited editions products. Past collaborations include Marc Jacobs, Visionaire Magazine, Barneys New York, The Standard Hotels, Playboy, Burton, Nike, Lacoste, Nooka, Matt Groening & more. A blend of sculpture and popular art, many of Kidrobot's exclusive toys are extremely rare and collectible. Artists often create a series of only a few hundred Up until I was 21 years old, I didn’t care about the Internet. But now, 15 years later, I can pretty much credit the Internet with everything leading up to this article. I tried traditional routes of applying for art jobs back in the mid 90’s. I sent out portfolios and made multiple attempts at getting my comics published, but those only led to rejection. Around that time I started blindly experimenting with the Internet out of boredom and realized immediately that I could anonymously spread around my art on every message board and social networking site without having to face the fear of rejection because I wasn’t trying to really DO anything with my art. I just wanted people to see it in hopes of getting some feedback, even if that feedback was critical and hateful…which it was. But it was helpful. Continuing to jump on as many social networking sites as they appeared, and disciplining myself to actually UTILIZE them was, for me, the most important thing I did in establishing the art career that I have now. So when I got asked by Juxtapoz to curate this Halloween issue, and to additionally be featured and interviewed for it, In the color restrained world of Kidrobot Black, artists transcend current confines of technique and expression to both innovate in existing formats and promote the exploration of new ones. Kidrobot Black thrives on the untried, the unexpected, and the unusual. Forging pieces that feature primarily black materials with minimal secondary highlights, Kidrobot Black frees the artist of the complications derived from color. These limitations compel artists to surpass the norms of material and form, and push past the line between consumer product and art, as well as between object and design. Featuring darker themes inherent to the medium, and available in only limited quantities, Kidrobot Black distinctively unites higher and lower forms of expression as it draws production to the brink of unique.