Sifting through the endless stacks of fabric, I was startled when the door flung open to reveal a walking cloud of UPS piss and vinegar. The year was 2003.
Nelly Furtado had just released Folklore, the much-anticipated follow-up album to Whoa Nelly and wouldn’t you know, this delivery guy was ticked.
All these years later, I’ll never forget his words about the album that celebrated her multi-cultural heritage. “What, she thinks she’s suddenly all international?! What the hell does she know?! She’s a Pop Princess for crissake.”
Ouch.
I’d forgotten that peculiar moment until I came across an older article posted on one of my beloved interior design blogs a few months ago. And then, shazaaaaaam. Seems Cindy Crawford designed a line of furniture, offered exclusively in Canada at The Brick.
“I am growing weary of overpaid and over-valued celebrities being paid exorbitant amounts of money to lend their name to everyday products. Sure, it is the nature of the beast; but aren’t we getting tired of lining these people’s pockets, when they are largely just figure heads? Isn’t it enough that we pay to go see their movies or purchase the magazines they are featured in? …Sure, she is beautiful, a great model, and a savvy business woman (with her own skin care line and exercise videos, among other endeavours), but come on…she suddenly knows enough to design furniture?
Hm.
A month or so later I came across a tweet that brought me to the site of Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, specifically to the chair Pharrell Williams designed as part of an art installation for the gallery’s 2008/2009 ‘Perspectives’ exhibit.
‘The Tank’, photograph by Guillaume Ziccarelli, courtesy Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin
From the accompanying text to the work:
“If we would spend love and time like we do money, we’d never go broke… But then again who am I trying to fool or what am I trying to fix? I’m just a guy in the mirror trying to imagine what it must feel like to be young… headed into war.”
Dezeen also featured the exhibition. At 83 and counting, some of the comments are truly jaw-dropping.
March 16th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
An embarrassment!! Emmanuel Perrotin Gallery — I call for your closure. Even if Pharrell puts out a Hd&M album, I wouldn’t rescind.March 16th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
Absolute Joke. Shows what fame and money can do.March 18th, 2010 at 2:33 am
Why do they always have to mess with other people’s (professionals) work? They are doing bad enough with their disturbing music why do they have to do it with design too. i feel threatened….
And my personal favourite:
March 18th, 2010 at 6:53 am
this guy robs people of their art in every territory. Im ashamed of The Emmanuel Perrotin Gallery. WHAT ARE YOU GUYS THINKING? this looks like a high tech japanese wheelchair. Its wrong. Its ugly, and shame on anyone who pays money for it.
Fascinating, really.
Of course, this leads me thinking… this isn’t about the album or the furniture line or the art installation; this is about creative boundaries. Nelly Furtado is a pop princess. Period. Cindy Crawford is a model. Period. Pharrell Williams is a rap artist. Period. How dare these celebrities escape the boundaries we’ve so carefully constructed? How dare these individuals try something new? How dare they gasp! expand their horizons?
At the most basic level, isn’t this really an issue of resenting success?
Isn’t this another facet of the ‘rich get richer and the poor get poorer’ argument? After all, we’re spoon-fed successful celebrity endorsements because dammit, it sells more shit. We, the unwashed masses, lap it up. We want to be just like them. Hell, we even want to park our asses on their sofas.
Or we don’t.
It’s simple, really. Like it? Buy it. Don’t? Keep moving.
But here are my questions for you: what was your first job? Flipping burgers? Mowing lawns? Baby-sitting?
Uh-huh.
And is that the only thing you should have the right to be known for?