Art Toys: The secret life of vinyl

Toys aren’t just for play —they can be objects of art too. And for keeps. That’s what your correspondent was reminded about at a recent event in Rockwell, presented by the Secret Fresh gallery/store and the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf chain.

 

Designer toys, or “art toys,” have been around since the early part of the century. One can trace this back to the pioneering work of Hong Kong's Michael Lau, who began by mixing up old toy figures with unique vinyl-molded designs. Since then, the world of designer/art toys has become a lucrative one, where rare toys can fetch princely sums. It has also gained some credibility as a medium of contemporary art, with a toy or two even being displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

 

Fresh beginnings

 

Secret Fresh has been around since 2007, originally as the Fresh Manila store, and is one of the pioneering designer toy stores in the metropolis. It moved into the Ronac Art Center near the corner of Ortigas and Santolan, and took on its present name. (The building, incidentally, was built by the owner of a mattress company, and its showroom can be found there.) 

 

The local designer/art toy scene is relatively new, but it gained ground with the opening of both Secret Fresh and Vinyl on Vinyl (at The Collective in Makati), which, as the owners remind people, are not in direct competition. Indeed, artists who work with designer toys have exhibited at either venue, and in recent months, the two establishments have taken on distinct niches. Vinyl highlights newer artists, and Secret Fresh has recently focused on working more with established artists, encouraging them to adopt toys as a medium for art.

 

Two artists engaged in art toys, Nemo Aguila and Whoop, were invited by Secret Fresh and the coffee store to demonstrate their work to a group of writers and photographers. Both used acrylic paint to work on toys that were based on both their existing work and on the theme of coffee and tea. While painting his toy in shades of green and black, Aguila explained, “We use a lot of earth colors here, to remind us about the coffee and tea.” The artists talked about their work processes, inspirations, and other examples of their work on display.

 

Apart from that, viewers were also introduced to the idea of customizing toys with an example of a DIY (do-it-yourself) Munny toy. The work of the two artists, and also some others from the Secret Fresh collection, were also on display.

 

Fair roots

 

GMA News Online sat down for a brief chat with Secret Fresh's curator/manager Lena Cobangbang. She told me that Secret Fresh's collaboration with Coffee Bean had its roots in the Manilart fair in 2011, where the former was a sponsor and the latter worked with them on some art appreciation talks. The chain is having an ongoing series of talks on art and aesthetic appreciation, with past legs including photographer Tom Epperson, among others.

 

Cobangbang explained Secret Fresh's role in the art community in Manila. “[It is] in terms of popularizing where art can be seen and appreciated,” she said, “although these toys have their own niche market. In a way, [we are] gradually democratizing [the art form].” She did admit that price was an issue for beginning collectors. 

 

“It's a growing trend internationally,” Cobangbang added, “and even famous or big-name artists are releasing limited edition multiples.” (In other words, designer toys produced in limited and small amounts.) She said that Secret Fresh takes part in events ranging from the Toy Convention (at SM Megamall) to Art in the Park (at the Salcedo Village Park, Makati) and Manilart to work with different markets. “We have the ability to corner different kinds of audiences,” she said. One notable exhibit late last year featured a collaboration between Secret Fresh, Blanc Galleries, and dozens of contemporary artists where they were encouraged to customize the Munny designer toy.

 

A new age

 

I asked whether there were still people who still had strong reservation with designer toys as art. “Yeah, there is really still some prejudice against it,” Cobangbang admitted, “For some, it's not really fine art or 'high art.' They see it so much as a commodity, or emphasizing the commodity aspect of art.” She added, “However, we are in this new age...” and proceeded to laugh. 

 

When asked whether there were any high art collectors who were into designer toys, she responded by tactfully saying, “Once you are a collector, you could end up collecting many things.” Cobangbang noted that most of their target audience in the Ronac store would be young professionals, with a small percentage of middle-aged clients who were more conscious about artists and limited editions. “Some of them are also trying to relive their childhood days,” she added, “because they lost most of their childhood toys.” 

 

The designer toy scene here has room for growth and is already winning some mainstream support. At the same time it faces the challenge of being accepted and recognized by a wider art community. Whatever one has to say about it, there is no denying the fact that designer toys could well be part of the future of art in our country. — TJD, GMA News

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Ren Aguila is a writer for GMA News Online. He wrote about the other designer toy establishment, Vinyl on Vinyl, earlier this year, when they hosted artist Tara McPherson.