On Saturday May 17, Brooklyn-based artist Cory Arcangel debuted his latest work: Arcangel Surfware, a line of clothing designed to be worn in bed, while surfing the internet. On the surface, it seems like this would be an ironic pursuit (how many puns have been made about “surfing” the web and surfing waves?). But he’s completely earnest in his desire to make a clothing line. Arcangel debuted the line in a Holiday Inn in mid-town Soho and the event (for which WAX was the media sponsor) was part senior prom, part retail shop, part performance. Titled “You Only Live Once,” the installation and one-day pop-up shop featured DJs, plastic palm trees and a small selection of his past work displayed around the space.
Read more about the project in Arcangel’s interview with Hans Ulrich Obrist, excerpted from WAX 5 below. Look for WAX 5 early this June and view the whole Arcangel Surfware collection here.
HANS ULRICH OBRIST: This conversation is not going to be about a normal art show.
CORY ARCANGEL: Right. I’m launching a new line of merchandise that’s called Arcangel Surfware. It’s not exactly happening at a normal art location, either. It’s unfolding over the course of one day — May 17th — in a Holiday Inn conference room in Chinatown.
HUO: Can you describe the line?
CA: It’s all different things: magazines, records, t-shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, iPhone covers, iPad covers, magazines, bed linens and a vinyl record of new piano compositions that I wrote. It’s designed for people who surf their computers in bed all day, like me.
HUO: Gilbert and George often refer to this idea of art for all. Your merchandising idea strikes me as similar; it creates platforms and support structures that make your work accessible and easier to disseminate. It’s a different kind of market from the rarefied limited edition art object. Do you envisage your project this way?
CA: Well, my first substantial experiences as an artist — in the late 90s and early 00s — were just pulling things from online. True blue net.art was my first medium. This idea, that anybody could see the work, formed my identity as an artist.
HUO: There’s a long tradition artists doing shops, and creating interesting relationships to branding. Sarah Lucas and Tracey Emin did a legendary DIY in London in the 90s, for instance. How you explore these different circuits of dissemination? Do you see your project as being connected to this kind of tradition of artist shop and the unlimited object?
CA: Artist’s shops are absolutely an influence. When I first moved to New York, Keith Haring’s shop — the Pop Shop — was still around. Though in a lot of ways I am appropriating musician’s strategies more than anything else. The company that I’m working with on the project is called Bravado; they’re the merchandise arm of Universal Music. They do merchandise for, like, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry. They also help musicians start their own lifestyle brands. Lil Wayne, for instance, does his own line of skater wear with them. I wanted to do a line centered on my own interest: surfing the Internet. I’m the first artist that they are working with. It is an experiment on both ends.
Look for more images and full interview in WAX 5.
View and shop Arcangel Surfware.
