Cool Hunting

Action Man 4040 by SummerSeventySix

Actionman1 Actionman2 Actionman4

Action Man is the British take on GI Joe, and was first introduced in 1966, hence Action Man 4040 at the Blink Gallery in Soho, London. The exhibition begins today, 16 May 2006, but I managed to get in for an early look.

It has been put together by designer-toy magazine Clutter, with a little bit of help from makers Hasbro, and features 40 different figures that have been customized, bastardized and abused by artists and designers from all over the world. Monsterism creator Pete Fowler and James Jarvis, the designer behind Amos Toys, to name just a couple. A few of the efforts may or may not be a comment on Action Man's military heritage, as they variously show him in a coffin, dressed to look like Mahatma Gandhi and holding a protest banner that says "Inaction Man". Others respect his roots, decking him out in the kind of heavy-duty hardware beloved of toy fan-boys, but it's worth a look even if you're not a collector and simply played with Action Man when you were a kid, like I did.

Action Man 4040 runs for a fortnight at the Blink Gallery, and then each of the figures will be auctioned for charity.

Tools
Print
Email
Save / Bookmark
fShare Share
Permanent link
Sphere It
This entry posted on 16 May 2006 at 9:29 AM
Related Entries
Advertisement
Ten Things to See at the London Design Festival
Kicking off today, the London Design Festival is a two-week extravaganza with a bewildering array of shows, exhibitions, seminars and general hobnobbing, big names, young talent, highly commercial offerings, as well as work which is so conceptual we’re not really sure if it’s even design. As we reported earlier this week Icon Magazine published a guide, but to make it even easier, here are...
From A to B and Back Again
After countless magazine articles, acclaimed annual events, and a spate of new boutiques, Brooklyn is fast cementing its status as a design capital. "From A to B and Back Again" is the latest celebration of all that the borough has to offer, featuring limited editions and prototypes by well-known designers including KleinReid, Jason Miller, redstr/collective, Scrapile, and The Design Can. Among the many highlights...
Banksy Versus Bristol Museum
by Ariston Anderson Street artist Banksy makes breaking the rules an artform, but his current exhibit, a legal installation of over 100 pieces at Bristol's City Museum & Art Gallery is surprising even his closest followers. Playing on earlier covert stunts that targeted the Tate and MoMA, in an unusual reversal, this time the institution welcomes the anonymous artist with open arms for his...
Cap Spray Can Nozzle Stool
Produced deep in the forests of Sweden, "Cap" is the first piece of furniture from the Don't Feed The Swedes. The plastic stool is a tribute to prominent graffiti personalities and modeled after a standard spray can nozzle, but enlarged to a scale which also makes for a functional seat. It was thought up by Swedish design duo Don't Feed The Swedes, and will...
Recent Cool Hunting Videosview all Cool Hunting Videos
Advertisement
Advertisement
Recent Entries

J. Howells Werthman: We Are Making Plans


PhoneSuit MiLi Pro Video Projector


iPhone HP Calculators


Society6


Bedol Eco-Friendly Water Drop Clock


Context x Kicking Mule 1980 Hand Dye Jeans


Liquid Image Camera Goggles


Interview with Erik Madigan Heck of Nomenus Quarterly


Photographer Julia Fullerton-Batten