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Catherine Inglis

Director

phone: 01635 55500

mobile: 07795 412032

email: catherine@themulberry-bush.co.uk

www.themulberry-bush.co.uk

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Wagtech International Limited

Wagtech Court, Station Road, Thatcham, Berkshire RG19 4HZ United Kingdom

Tel +44 (0) 1635 872929 | Fax +44 (0) 1635 862898 | info@wagtech.co.uk | www.wagtech.co.uk

with compliments

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Neil Francis Durham BSc, MSc

Managing Director, Wagtech Group

T. +44 (0) 1635 872929

M. +44 (0) 7785 737843

F. +44 (0) 1635 862898

neil.durham@wagtech.co.uk

www.wagtech.co.uk

Wagtech Court

Station Road

Thatcham

Berkshire RG19 4HZ

United Kingdom

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alex murphy job: SUBvert Magazinebrief: Arts & Urban Culture Freezine

stoique’s GMW live painting

event, that was pretty crazy,

before that I was out in

Slovenia with an

organisation called Kiddog for a

little while, where I did a

workshop to coincide with a

solo show out there. before

that, I moved to Hungary for a

few months just to

see what

would

happen.

(not

that much did so I came home.

I won a billboard competition

out there though which was fun

and met lots of wicked people.)

other than that, im just living in

Brighton but spending most of

my time in London.

What other commercial

projects have you been

involved in?

Past commercial projects

include Nike / Wieden Kennedy,

Motorola, Puma, London

Records, Island Records,

Random House, Penguin

books, Virgin, VW, Stoique

Japan, Final Home Japan.

Name

some other artists who

either inspire you or

whose work you

admire?

I’m not really inspired by too

many artists. im mostly in

to

Eastern European

graphics / animation /

illustration from the 60’s / 70’s

/ eary 80s.

Do you go to Art

Exhibitions? What was

the last show you went

to?I do go to exhibitions. to be

honest, the last show I went to

was just a general tour of the

Tate Modern because a friend

came to see me from Hungary,

and she wanted to do the

tourist thing.

stuff wherever I stop. it’s a

lso

an excercise in spending loads

of time alone, which is

something I hate the idea of,

but also something I think I

need to do.

a) Do you think Urban

Vinyl is Art?

I have no idea whether it’s

art or not, im not that bothered

about that. I do however think

that most of it is a bit samey

and boring. plus I hate

hoarding stuff, I throw away

almost everything I own about

twice a year, so I cant deal with

endless pieces of plastic filling

up my house.

b) How do you think it

differs from normal toy

manufacturing?

I just think it’s made by a

certain group of people for a

certain group of

people.

c) Would you ever

consider

developing any

of your ideas

into Urban Toys?

I had

thoughts

about it a

while ago,

but I dont

really see the

point right now. even the term

‘Urban Toy’ seems to be loaded

with cliches. I don’t

think my current work has too

Tell us

about the

Magma

Exhibition?

Describe the type of

work you are showing?

The stuff at the show is all

very new, and it’s what im most

into doing right now. as I get

older I seem to be

rediscovering and getting

inspiration more and more from

my past, which is based in

Jewish / Eastern European

roots, and with this kind of

work, im just trying to be

honest about who I am and

where i`m from.

What are you currently

working on at the

moment?

I have a few commercial

projects going on, but

meanwhile i’m planning a road

trip across Europe, which I will

get on with as soon as I have

time. the plan is just to get in

the car, and drive into Europe

and see what happens.

the original plan was just to

drive all the

way along

the coast of

Europe

until I get

to Croatia,

and then up to Hungary for

a bit, and then who

knows, but now im

thinking I should just head

straight for the middle, maybe

Berlin. I will take everything I

need to get on with my work

with me, and collect/draw/write

much to do with that stuff.

d) What do you think

Art is in the modern

world today ? How has

it changed?

I have no real authority on

what’s art and what isn’t art,

but I guess art is a reflection of

whats going on in the world

around us. we live in a

consumer world, so a lot of our

art reflects that. I dont like the

idea that in a consumer culture

we express ourselves by the

things we buy, but that’s how it

is. I see the whole Urban Toy

thing as a good example of

this. there’s nothing wrong with

it, but it’s just not something

im that interested in.

(subv3rt) 07 issue.2

DavidFoldvari

Where did you study?

I studied at Brighton, and then at the

RCA.

What have you done since

graduating? Where have you

shown your work?

I got involved with Big Active a few years

after graduating from Brighton,

and have been working as an illustrator

since. my work has been

shown at galleries in

Tokyo, Osaka,

Budapest, Slovenia,

London, and

various other

places although

the magma show

is my first solo

show in the UK.

I was in

Japan for

thesecond

time

at

w w w . d a v i d f o l d v a r i . c o . u k

David Foldvari an illustrator born in

Budapest, Hungary, now based in Brighton.SUBv

ert 25/

5/06 12

:09 Pag

e 06

perceptions, push boundaries.

This can be in any industry

from commerce to art, to

anywhere in between. More

and more I’m feeling liberated,

more able to be exactly who I

should be. I also inspire myself

most days, which is a

convenient thing!

Who is your favourite

character?

KAWS Accomplice Pink

Bunny, Crusty the Clown from

the Simpsons, King Ken by

James Jarvis, KAWS

Companion, the Smurfs, Snowy

the dog from Tin Tin, Camguin

by Fowler, Mr Men, HR Puff n

Stuff. Humphrey B Bear,

Doogle from the Magic

Roundabout.

What other 3Ddesigners do you

admire? KAWS, James Jarvis, Pete

Fowler, Tim Tsui, Baseman,

Biskup, Fafi, Nathan Jurevicius,

Bill McMullen, Tristan Eaton,

Lau, So, Siu, Brothersfree, the

list goes on. Many others who

have made a great

contribution.

What countries is your

work most popular?

In Jeremyville, and on the

internet. I think the notion of

countries is very old fashioned.

I don’t think like that, I think of

people first, connections with

people, then email and

websites. those are my points

of reference. I also sell to many

but I am regularly excited by

modern artists like those

mentioned above.

What type of person do

you aim your figures at?

Someone who values the

new, the challenging, the

different. Someone who

respects all forms of creativity

from the humble DIY

sketchbook to a 200 foot

mural, to the art on a CD cover.

Or a cool new shoe design. Or

a painted canvas.

People who like crossing over

between genres, and are not

tied or fixated by the old values

of the past. Some days I just

want things to change

completely, to smash it all

up...today I’m sick of the old

20th century notions of art,

commerce, design, traditional

values, and notions of what is

‘acceptable’. Tomorrow I might

think differently, but today I’m

frustrated by old values and

narrow minded thinking.

Maybe someone who feels this

same desire for change might

be into the iconoclastic notion

of designer toys. I don’t know.

Maybe that’s just me. I think

toys are a part of the

revolution.

What or who inspires

you?Free thinkers, open

mindedness, people who break

down old notions, change

people all around the world,

like Colette in Paris just ordered

from me, I’m having a show in

Montreal this year, and I’ve

sent off art to be featured in

18 books in 2005 from

Barcelona to Tokyo to New

York, so it’s about the people,

the projects,, the mind set not

the latitude on the globe they

happen to be from. The

Internet is the catalyst for that

revolution. 95% of my projects

would not be possible were it

not for the internet.

I see artists’ websites as mini

suburbs of one giant, creative

global township.

Whilst writing “Vinyl Will

Kill” did you discover

anything surprising?

Megan and I realised how

long books take to produce!

How helpful and supportive

designers can be. How strong

the global toy community scene

is. That emailing your last files

to the publisher at 3am on a

saturday night can be a very

exhausting process.

What did you gain

personally from writing

this book?

A really cool network of

friends and contacts in various

fields all over the place; some

great design commissions that

came from people seeing the

book, such as a big series of

animations for MTV Americas;

an ongoing column of around 6

pages per issue that I write for

IdN magazine on

designer toys;

the book being

in Wallpaper’s

book of the

month feature,

and a 2nd

reprint of the

book in the

US. Also, some great

personal feedback from artists I

admire, like James Jarvis,

Jim Woodring, Kinsey, Tim

Biskup, Gary Baseman,

Sarah from Colette, lots of

others who took time to

write that they loved the

book.

How do you think

designer toys will

evolve? I think the customisable

platform can be extended into

more imaginative shapes, and

a lot more crossover with

products such as apparel,

games, publishing etc, that fit

in with the general toy concept.

More innovative designs. I think

as long as designers push

themselves and keep the

customer excited and

challenged, then the audience

for toys will grow. Once the

audience becomes tired of

toys, there might be a decline.

The toy flame needs to stay

alight! Plastic does burn very

well, after all at 3am on a

saturday night can be a very

exhausting process.

Do you think Urban

Vinyl will ever be

accepted in the art

world as sculpture?

I think the ‘art world’ is a

very small and self referential

industry based on the

manufactured stock value of a

particular artist, and I feel

Designer Toys exist outside of

that, more akin with

movements such as graffiti,

sneakers, music, fashion,

graphic design, hip hop, and

pop culture. I think the art

world is too small a basket to

hold such a broad and

important concept as designer

toys.

Certain artists who work in an

art gallery context might sneak

in a toy or two in a show, but

generally speaking Designer

Toys are more about a broader

pop culture than confined to a

gallery setting.

I also know from speaking with

lots of toy designers that they

have no wish to be associated

within a very old fashioned ‘fine

art’ concept.

I think stores like Colette in

Paris, Alife in New York, and

the Vacant stores are more

exciting, adventurous and

ground breaking than any art

gallery could ever be these

days. And you will find toys in

such stores.

How do you think it

differs from normal toy

manufacturing, what do

you think Art is in the

modern world, what

does it mean today ?

I think the notion of what

art is has really broadened, and

is a lot more conceptual and

encompassing, and crosses

over between disciplines. so

you have artists such as Geoff

McFetridge, Mike Mills, Maya

Hayuk, Deanne Cheuk,

Groovisions, Takashi Murakami,

Jeff Soto, Ryan McGinniss,

Michael Leon, Evan Hecox,

Genevieve Gauckler, and a host

of others who are pushing the

notion of what constitutes art.

The traditional gallery scene is

really struggling to catch up,

and certainly does not hold

much excitement for me. It has

been a long, long time since I

saw an exciting fine art show,

(subv3rt) 05 issue.2

(subv3rt) 04 issue.2

Jeremy is an artist and

designer from Australia with

his own clothing label

Jeremy, a commercial

design company called

DESIGN Lab and Jeremville

a concept store in Australia

selling work by all the

cutting edge designers.

Jeremyvillew w w . j e r e m y v i l l e . c o m

SUBvert 25/5/06 12:0

9 Page 04

1. Doy o ut h i n kU r b a nVinyl isart? Ifso whatcriteriadoes itcomplywith tomake itart? Ifnot whyn o t ?I seelimitededitionv i n y lfiguress i t t i ngin thes a m ecategory asartist’sp r i n t s(affordab l ereproduc t i o n sby anartist/designer) .2. If you

How do you view

Urban Vinyl

I see limited edition

vinyl figures sitting in the

same category as

artists prints (affordable

reproductions by an

artist/designer).

Describe the

process...

Generally it’s about the

run size and the types of

designs made. Normal toy

manufacturing is about mass

audiences, movie and TV

licenses and is not limited to

a special run size. Also a

distinguishing feature is that

most of the toys created in

the Urban vinyl world are by

known or semi-known

artists and that’s part of the

appeal of the final product.

What’s your opinion on

Art?Art today is very

unregulated. If it can be

displayed in a gallery

most people view that as ‘art’. I

think art is anything created

that is trying to express an

emotion or message (that’s my

interpretation anyway). Art then

is relevent to the majority of

people.

What type of person do

you think is interested

in Urban Vinyl?

Urban vinyl is different in

every country. I suppose in

general people who like Urban

Vinyl have a collectors

mentality.

How would you describe

your work?

Story telling art

How do you think the

Vinyl figure seen will

evolve?

I think there will be a large

turnover of artists who will

move in and out of the vinyl

world and some artists work will

merge into the more

mainstream audience.

What projects are you

currently working on?

and what future

projects do you have

planned?

Currently I’m in production

on 90 x 15 second animated

shorts which roll out in late

February 2006. I’m also still in

early development on the

Scarygirl feature film.

NathanJerevisius

w w w . s c a r y g i r l . c o m

A successful illustrator, artist and toy designer, originally from

Australia. Nathan's beautifully strange characters such as Scarygirl,

are brought to life by his collaboration with Hong Kong based toy

company Flying Cat.

(subv3rt) 16 issue.2

(subv3rt) www.subvertmagazine.com

SUBvert 25/5/

06 12:09 Pag

e 16

edition 2 / illustration / graphic design /

urban vinyl / skateboarding / music

FREE

SUBvert 25/5/06 12:11 Page 44