the feeling is great after he cut the chair piece to piece
July 5, 2011 9:49 AM   Subscribe

"For his new project, Err, artist Jeremy Hutchison contacted various factories around the world, and asked if one of their workers would produce an 'incorrect' version of the product they make every day: in doing so, the functional objects became artworks. Hutchison has also kept all of the correspondence with the factories as part of the project."
posted by Potomac Avenue (27 comments total) 45 users marked this as a favorite
 
The incorrect version of a mass-produced item becomes a one-of-a-kind art object, an anti Ready Made.

Neat.
posted by The Whelk at 9:50 AM on July 5, 2011


hahaha this is awesome. If I still produced physical products, I would have loved to have taken part in this event.
posted by rebent at 9:54 AM on July 5, 2011


Ceci n'est pas une pipe.
posted by Floydd at 9:56 AM on July 5, 2011 [4 favorites]


I don't clearly understand why, but the photos are all just so fucking hilarious.
posted by griphus at 9:57 AM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]


Ceci n'est pas une pipe.

Only if form follows function.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:58 AM on July 5, 2011


This reminds me of the movie Static, in which the protagonist works at a crucifix factory and takes home the errors and hangs them on the wall. You can see some of them in the poster on IMDB.
posted by Huck500 at 9:58 AM on July 5, 2011 [3 favorites]


The broken bits remind me of Charlie Bucket's father bringing home the deformed toothpaste caps for Charlie, which he makes into sculptures (from the 2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie version).
posted by filthy light thief at 10:06 AM on July 5, 2011


Also, I wish this could happen on a very large scale. A cookie-cutter McMansion filled with the same ugly-ass concrete they pours its walls out of, or glass skyscraper filled in with more glass.
posted by griphus at 10:10 AM on July 5, 2011 [4 favorites]


This is one of the few highly conceptualized art stunts that I've connected with.

The article mentioned responses from the workers who made the non-functional items. I would enjoy getting a larger slice of their life and thoughts on making something intentionally broken.
posted by jsturgill at 10:15 AM on July 5, 2011


Maybe it's highly conceptualized, but it's easy to "get". These objects are incorrect. How? Why? The answer forms your reaction.

If your answer is "because a guy ordered some factories for some incorrect objects" then maybe this isn't for you.
posted by LogicalDash at 10:19 AM on July 5, 2011


I cannot get over how much I love those sunglasses. Utterly recognizable, very nearly intact, and the flaw takes a second to sink in, but completely useless as functional items.
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:20 AM on July 5, 2011 [4 favorites]


I wonder if instead he had asked for items that failed QA how different our reactions would be. (Because here, the artists are really the factory workers who created the object on purpose..)
posted by k5.user at 10:22 AM on July 5, 2011 [2 favorites]


I love this! It's interesting to see how each manufacturer interpreted the order - I wonder how much the language barrier affected the outcome versus if the manufacturer was a mass-producer rather than a small-scale company (the pipe and cane strike me more as specialist items compared to the chair or shoe)?
posted by pyrex at 10:26 AM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]


Maybe it's highly conceptualized, but it's easy to "get". These objects are incorrect. How? Why? The answer forms your reaction.

Ever watch a movie and spend just as much time thinking about what it might have been as what it actually was? I do that all the time. Same thing with this. As thoughtful and interesting as the project is, I'd love to see a third element: the thoughts of a craftsman (or assembly line worker) intentionally creating an object with no utility. Did they think of it as art? Did they find it playful? Annoying? Was it cathartic? Did it add stress to their day or relieve it? Were they sad they could only make one? Did they make another one for themselves to give as a joke present?

The quote that serves as the title of the post is as interesting as any one of the pictures.
posted by jsturgill at 10:30 AM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]


This is a fantastic idea for a project. I would have loved to hear the discussions at the various factories over what they should do. Some of the pieces are really quite attractive and well-thought-out.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:48 AM on July 5, 2011


This is good.
posted by TwelveTwo at 10:55 AM on July 5, 2011


This is great. It's especially nice that unlike a lot of conceptual artists he credits the people who actually made these things.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 10:58 AM on July 5, 2011


The second link doesn't seem to have anything about this artwork on it.
posted by LogicalDash at 11:03 AM on July 5, 2011


Somebody knew what was up. This is brilliant. Like, a step forward even.
posted by cmoj at 11:14 AM on July 5, 2011


This is great. It's especially nice that unlike a lot of conceptual artists he credits the people who actually made these things

Yeah, I noticed that too.
posted by atrazine at 11:34 AM on July 5, 2011


Just checked out the rest of his oeuvre. The man bristles with ideas.
posted by Dragonness at 11:44 AM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]


Stuff like this is why I dig art. (ugh, shovel pun unintentional, but inevitable after cmoj's direct link, I think).
posted by Alterscape at 11:52 AM on July 5, 2011


There are some incredibly creative factory workers out there. Those sunglasses are the work of a genius.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 12:21 PM on July 5, 2011


Those sunglasses strike me in particular because they seem to come from a mass-producer, yet they're so subtle in their approach. It took me a while to understand that "oh, yeah, those are sunglasses, but.. wait.. no nose could fit those"
posted by pyrex at 1:15 PM on July 5, 2011


All I could think was that Lord Voldemort's got awesome shades.
posted by gracedissolved at 3:27 PM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]


This is fantastic.
posted by arcticwoman at 8:22 PM on July 5, 2011


Heidegger: "a hammer becomes a work of art when it is broken"
posted by Lutoslawski at 12:53 PM on July 7, 2011


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