prada marfa! where have you seen it first? was it the sign on a certain super exposed living room wall in gossip girl? have you driven past by it in texas? or was it on beyonce’s instagram feed?
prada marfa is an installation by scandinavian artists michael elmgreen and ingar dragset. after enjoying 8 years in the texan desert, the texas department of transportation deemed it an “illegal advertising sign” last week and it may face termination.
unexpectedly, there is no commercial relationship between the art duo and the fashion brand. even if miuccia agreed to the use of the logo and she did provide the bags and shoes displayed in the window of this mock prada shop in the middle of nowhere. in order to prevent looting, the bags have no bottoms and the shoes come pairless.
the artists have never applied for a permit for the piece as they do not consider it advertising. the late development seems to have been triggered by a similar effort called playboy marfa. but the circumstances are different: the placement is in the middle of nowhere so it obviously doesn’t have a sale target. and most importantly, it is situated on private property.
what do you think? is prada marfa an ad or an art statement?
you can protect the installation on this facebook page or by using #savepradamarfa on twitter. in case texas will find a way to terminate it, elmgreen says they will erect a version somewhere else.
the art duo is currently on show at victor and albert museum in london (1.10.2013 – 2.01.2014)
in a completely related concept, prada and damien hirst have launched a pharmacy juice bar in qatar a few days ago. the unexpected collaboration marks relics, a retrospective of hirst’s work in alriwaq (10.10.2013 – 22.01.2014).
besides, there’s also a prada oasis, a shop displaying the handbags hirst and prada did together. the bags recently sold out via silent auction. all profits went to the reach out to asia ngo. you must know that the collaboration was limited to 20 items and each featured real insects in plexi shells.
people are wondering what this was about? the milanese prada hq features one of hirst’s sheep in formaldehyde. also, miuccia’s involvement with the arts is well-known. the entomology mini-series was certainly not about the sales as much as a pleasant collaborative and association exercise.
anyway, i doubt anybody will ever wear their prada x hirst bag. they will rather display it!
is the art world doing stealthy pr and creating a buzz like no one else or what?
photo credits: google search
