Run Vinyl Run
Buy it paste it wrap it ship it get it take it hold it love it stop make it write it ink it sculpt it kiln it screen it show it sell it go — the pace of art picks up its step as the beat takes it to a different level of mixing: Urban Vinyl.
Munky King… Munky King… Munky King. The name, or title, has been whispered in the alleyways of the night; echoed from the downtown rooftops of urban locales; mixed into the samples of DJs; spray painted on the walls of museums; stenciled onto the buildings which create the town of Los Angeles. But what is it or better yet who is it?
He is the king of all munkies, challenger of conformist values, establisher of individuality, wielder of turntables and large sticks, spinner of tales no one has heard before, break-dancer of artistic measure, a culture-infused-throwdown-fool of the intellectual sort, the Disc Jockey of art – he is the Munky King! Perched in his branch high above the streets of Chinatown he watches over all urban movements with a benevolent and chic eye, measuring, appreciating, and exposing the art world in a beautiful and essential way. Munky King is L.A.’s proprietor Urban Vinyl.
Urban Vinyl sprung up in the mid to late 1990s credited and established by Michael Lau, Hong Kong-based and internationally acclaimed artist. The movement refers to designer based collectibles produced in limited editions. The designer toys/collectibles/works of art are characters created with the use of multiple materials, ranging from plastic and vinyl to wood and metal with introductions into paper orientated sculptures as well here of late. Subcategories in the movement have recently sprouted to reveal realms labeled: cloth dolls, plush, and latex. These new categories take on the implications which their titles produce. Such movements have produced well known and widely distributed products such as the Ugly Doll series.
Melt it burn it bend it bust it break it work it learn it stuff it flip mold it shape it cut it trace it draw it tape it saw it stick
Mass production does not take away any humanism the art holds but, rather, makes a statement about the industrial and commercial society which we have become. That is, we have become a consumer based society structured around what we like. If we like something we surround ourselves with versions, copies, or ideals/remembrances of it almost to an obsessive degree. If we happen to like art and be surrounded by that art then it is art we will mass produce. No longer is industry, or trade, kept separate from culture, or art, the two are closer to becoming an inseparable joint ideal. With this comes the elimination between the boundaries of high and low art, an aim artists have had since the terms have been around and the erection of a new breed of art galleries.
Munky King is an art gallery of this new breed. I have heard it being referred to as a toy store before and this does not do it justice, not because toys lack artistry; but, because of the associations and implications the word “toys” has as most folks lean toward the childish side of the word. Patrick and Chanda Lam opened the gallery November of ’03 to allow the community access to this bold new art movement. Goliath guards house rare miniature collectibles for public display upon each side of the gallery. More mass produced toy collections are provided throughout the innards of the gallery’s stomach. Toys are the only works of art this gallery exhibits as paintings by the toy designers as well as other artists adorn the walls.
Copy stitch and flip the switch and slide it ride it shopping fit and make the shoe and fit the cut and break the mold curate show leave no tale untold
Known as a strong motion against conformist art views by displacing common associations of action figures with artistic designs aimed at an older and much more sophisticated generation the movement gained popularity amidst the so-called ‘low-brow’ art fanatics and was hurdled into mainstream pop-culture with amazing momentum.
An upward rising in pop-culture, an aesthetic explosion of urbanomic anarchism, the toys began to eliminate, and I mean exterminate, completely eradicate, by which to pontificate, and contemplate the artistic mediums which are used. Art is art no matter what canvas it is applied to, how it is applied, or why it is applied. Art exists outside the measure of ourselves and is not subject to the same treatment as we treat one another – meaning, it is better than we are.
But how is something better than something else – it is purer. Purer can be used in a sense of good and evil, good being that which is purer, but concepts referring to good and evil cannot be applied to art because art is not sentient and/or capable of good or bad actions. Purer can also be used in the sense of quality, water tastes better when it is purer. Children are also purer than adults as they are more innocent; without as many sins. It is in this latter sense which the Toy Art, Urban Vinyl, movement exists. An essence of artistic measure; a magnificent core.
Spin it play it scratch it bump it thump it move it skip it fade it out and bring it crank it hold it through-the-roof it out-the-house it off-the-hook it keeps going
Born from the urban areas of hip hop trends and workings, Urban Vinyl embraces the works of graffiti artists, illustrators, musicians, and DJs and is often closely associated with them. The works, of course, are motivated by strong-standing characters. These individual characters move an idea, statement, expression, or moment for the artist or artists, as multiple artists have be known to work on a single piece each taking on a different aspect (clothes, bust, color, etc.).
Galleries promoting this particular art movement have been springing to life in the last few years. Among the most reknown of these is the Munky King gallery located in Los Angeles’s own Chinatown, the first in the southern Californian area.
Being accepted amongst a younger generation, as the shape the art takes is it that of a toy, pieces of Urban Vinyl become highly sought after as older individuals are now clinging to six inch action figures just like they did when they were seven years old. However, these miniature works of art are not to be treated as normal toys would be treated but to be…well, to be honest, and hopefully not being too cliché sounding, to be treated like the works of art they are: with a handful of respect, appreciation, adoration, thought, and wonder.
Written by d/visible contributor Christopher Burkett
