This is not a toy
By: curated by Design Exchange (DX), Canada's Design Museum, John Wee Tom and Sara Nickleson curators
Publisher: Design Exchange
Published: 2014
Place of publication: Toronto
Language: eng
Number of pages: 445
ISBN-13: 9781896282442
Subjects: Toys; Exhibitions; Design; Design Exchange (Firm)
Description: "Designer toys occupy a unique place in contemporary visual culture. Lying at the intersection of product and graphic design, marketing and pop culture, urban vinyl is part merchandise, part art.... As an exhibition, This is Not a Toy aimed to introduce the art toy as a unique cultural symbol, and the book intends to go further by leading the reader deeper into this intriguing world. The publication considers the unusual position of the art toy as design object, work of art and consumer product; its fanatic fan base despite the fairly recent origins of the genre; the many cultural influences that led to its rise; the aesthetic and emotional attraction that these objects compel within the viewer; and ultimately, the designer toy as a legitimate and relevant art form."--From the Curators' Foreword.
Notes: Produced in conjunction with the exhibition This is Not a Toy, curated by Design Exchange (DX), Canada's design museum and presented from 7 February to 19 May 2004--Colophon.
Table of contents: title: Foreword / John Wee Tom and Sara Nickleson; title: Tomorrow's body today / Douglas Coupland; title: Images of works; title: From street to shelf to Kunsthalle: urban vinyl's roundabout path to art world credibility / Murray Whyte; title: Stay gold / Kristin Weckworth; title: A vinyl platform for dissent: designer toys and character merchandising / Marc Steinberg; title: Cultivating cute / Sara Nickleson; title: The anatomy of cool / John Wee Tom; title: Selected biography; title: Interview: mining my mind / Pharrell Williams; title: Catalogue of the exhibition and other selected works by the artist; title: Afterword / Shauna Levy; title: Endnotes.