What the world of consumers look like by artist J-Ldn.
Sometimes we can only laugh at the amount a piece of artwork is. Remember when a piece of work by Banksy was sold at Sotheby's only for it to be chopped up and shredded? Before this outstanding theater, the artwork was initially valued at $200,000 - $300,000; it sold for $1.8m! And THEN, even AFTER this public prank by the trickster, peeps are lining up to buy the shredded piece for possibly even more than the original while it was in tact. It's now expected to be sold October 14th by Sotheby's again, for the insane amount of $8m! Talk about tatering! But, allow us to peel the onion. Tons of #artists out there create just for the sake of creating, and there's no harm in that. But others have a true meaning for why they create. Banksy, for instance, has a social or political message and much like his fellow #Brit, Jack London (better known as J-Ldn), wants to highlight the relationships between cultures and objects. In most instances, his fascination is depicted through the image of uzi submachine #guns designed in some pop culture motif he likes to call shoeuzi.
A lot of J-Ldn's shoeuzi work has a similar style – an uzi gun decorated with some pop culture reference like Off-White, #Supreme or #KAWS plastered over it, but with a little twist. It's these little twists that make you chuckle, since it's almost a cheeky tease to J-Ldn's fellow creatives. He's elbowing the ribs of people like Virgil Abloh, showing the grip he's got on streetwear enthusiasts and their connection to his brand.
The #shoeuzi itself comes in different parts that you have to put together, but the packaging and the fun you get piecing everything is part of the enjoyment. It's like you're helping complete the art piece by putting it together, but at the same time you're acknowledging that you've succumbed to the influences of whatever pop culture artist it's referencing. We have no earthly idea if that's J-Ldn's intent, but just writing that sentence alone destroyed the space-time continuum.
Overall, we know that in the end it's a cool piece of #collectible art. These aren't your usual G.I. Joe toys that are still in mint packaging – these are toys for grownups. And don't get us wrong, we get the hype around why these are so collectible; they're dope-looking. Whenever something is that cool to look at, there's always people out there that has to collect every one of them. Like Pokémon, they gotta catch them all, but remember if you do, you're proving J-Ldn right. #CROSSxOVER #Culture #Art #Artist #JLdn #JackLondon #GraphicArt #PopArt #FineArt #Sculpture #PopCulture #ConsumerBehavior #Marketing #Advertising #Social #GIJoe #OffWhite #VirgilAbloh
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