Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
We’re working on the floor plans for the GRNY new gallery space. Right now, it’s pretty clean and cleared out, but it’s gonna fill in towards the back. Designing spaces seems like something we can all do. Put this here, put things there, etc etc. Sounds like taking a photograph. Anyone can do it. But not… We’re having some great help with creative designs, stuff we wouldn’t have ever thought of. That said, sometimes, it’s good to leave some design work to the designers.
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This is the adidas statement about the project that also addressing the Ray Fong shoe. Adicolor_Yellow Series_Y1 HUF Herzogenaurach, April 2006 – With the current introduction of the adicolor series, adidas brings back an iconic footwear concept that celebrates the touch points of self expression, customization and personalization. Comprised of over 40 unique footwear designs, the adicolor collection is divided in two major parts, the White Series and the innovative Color Series. Represented by six different colors- black, red, pink, green, blue and yellow- the latter series features a number of collaborations between adidas Originals and a diverse group of partners- all icons from the worlds of fashion and art. Among those is San Francisco-based store HUF, who hooked up with the much-respected West Coast artist Barry McGee, better known by his tag name, “Twist”. Working on and inspired by the streets of America’s cities since the 1980s, Chinese-American McGee and HUF chose to feature one of Twist’s favorite characters, fictional bondsman Ray Fong, on the footbed, lace jewel and tongue of their adicolor sneaker. McGee on his adicolor sneaker: “Ray Fong is a character I developed well-over four years ago for an art installation in New York. The image was made from a picture of me when I was around eight years old. When I look at the photo, I think- cute! The name Ray Fong came from my uncle Ray Fong who passed away over a decade ago. Keith and I never thought the image was “racist” and I am sorry to those people who perceive it that way. All I remember is having Stan Smith’s face on my adidas when I was young, and was elated to put a caricature of myself on a shoe when presented the opportunity this year.” The HUF/Twist sneaker represents the adicolor concept as it takes expression from the contemporary urban world. Part of the most limited-edition package of the adicolor series, these were produced for a one-time run with a limited distribution of only 1,000 pairs available exclusively at just twelve retail locations worldwide. There is no plan to market these sneakers in the future, and they are expected to completely sell out following this limited release. Please visit www.adidas.com/adicolor to see other models represented in the adicolor series. adidas is excited to have featured HUF and McGee as part of this project. We are committed to understanding, valuing and incorporating the diversity of our communities and various fields of activities among the global marketplace. adidas does and always has valued an open dialogue with its consumers. Therefore, we welcome the feedback we have received from the global community and will continue to do so. It is an unfortunate coincidence that the HUF/Twist sneaker and its inclusion as part of the “Yellow Series” is misinterpreted as purposely offensive. It is not our intention to offend any group or individual as adidas prides itself on being a multicultural organization. ***ends*** For more information please contact:www.press.adidas.com
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Anonymous said… Thanks Eric for the thoughtful response regarding McGee’s continuing contributions to the art world. I completely understand and appreciate the importance art (of all kinds) plays in within society. And I do agree that the Fong shoe, as a point of aggrevation for Asians, is decidedly less of a priority than are other issues at hand. However, I think it’s important to acknowledge that the Fong image is void of any artistic context when placed on the shoe — and that’s my “beef” with this one. In my world, context is everything and I believe Adidas (and HUF) has been remiss in not shedding more light on McGee’s association to the shoe. There is no mention of McGee in Adidas’s press materials, nor in any marketing or point-of-purchase materials. It was THEIR choice to put the image into the marketplace as a stand-alone icon — perhaps they felt McGee’s work was more recognizable? I think the most telling comment that has been made on the matter so far has been from the owner of HUF who said (and i’m paraphrasing): “People should educate themselves before they complain.”…uh, isn’t that the point? Isn’t he actually acknowledging that if you’re not familiar with McGee’s subversive use of the image then yeah, of course you’d be offended. I know of contemporary artists who have used Nazi icons as subversive elements within their artwork, yet remove the context of art from those icons and…? I’m not going to lose sleep over this but I do think it’s worth pointing out. Adidas, I don’t think, is displaying racist attitudes, but I do believe they have at the very least been irresponsible and naive. Hi there anonymous, thanks for writing. I think doing a shoe with Barry McGee makes the shoe more recognizable, but I do believe that Huf worked with Barry because it’s an honor. It’s one of the reasons why we worked with Barry. It’s rare for there to be Ray Fong or Barry McGee products, so this is out of the norm. I’m not sure if I read Huf’s comments that way. I think he’s saying something like, it’s art and there’s no problem with it. I could be wrong though! You do raise a point. I still think that it being on a shoe is fine. The press materials will be minimal for an artist limited edition run shoe. Marketing for this kind of stuff is appealing to that small percent who’ll understand that shoe. Can it offend? Of course, and much lesser problems offend more, and much larger problems offend much less.
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I just noticed, people can leave notes on my posts! I had no idea.. .anyways, this is from anonymous. anonymous said: i can’t imagine that adidas would have the balls to put an old school black face darky coon icon on their sneakers and stand by the concept, that it’s polemical “art”. there is a right time and place for these kinds of messages, and i’m not sure a sneaker is the place for it. how about a skateboard, snowboard or a t-shirt. or maybe i’m just not avant-guarde like that. are white people allowed to say to their black friends “how are you doin’ my nigga” My only comment to the last line is that, white and other ethnicities say this for sure. Of course it’s a joke, not a great one, but oh well. I do think a shoe although a utilitarian object is now in an arena that’s crossing into designer fashion and believe it or not, art. There are sneaker art shows, so this isn’t too far out there.
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Posted my Ray Fong editorial yesterday, got some lukewarm comments, some not positive, but at the same time, got positive comments from those who matter most to me, and they were from around the world. Although there were other opinions on it, similar, I didn’t feel that they addressed who Barry McGee is and what he means to art. Maybe it really doesn’t matter in your opinion, but I think and feel that it does. I don’t get too involved with issues like this usually, so thanks for hearing my opinions out. There’ll be more upcoming on this issue, but thankfully, people are getting tired of it. I still believe the shoe is great, and I’d like another pair. The t shirt… that’s a bold one! I don’t wear huge prints on shirts, so I’d have to be feeling really bold to rock that. (thanks ebayer for the image)
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