Cut It Out Exhibition

By Rob Last edited 224 months ago
Cut It Out Exhibition
saville_cutout_main.jpg

It's difficult to know what to think about this Peter Saville/Sony 'public art' collaboration.

The idea is that Sony PSP produce 500 pieces of "graphic design focused public art" decorated by Saville and a gang of other graphic design artists (like Neville Brody and Danny Sangra). Plus, 50 of the cut outs have been signed by Saville.

These works of art then get displayed at locations across London over the next week or so and the public are encouraged to 'interact' with them i.e. pick them up and take them home.

Now we're assuming that the artwork will be be placed subtly around the city one bit at a time, however there's the fear that Sony's PR people will just dump it all in a bar in East London and by the weekend it will all be decorating the walls of some Old Street loft conversion.

The other, more obvious, problem with all this is that it's all about the relaase of a new PSP game. Now consider what Saville himself said to a Guardian journalist just last week:

I don't do much commercial work now. I do as little as possible - not deliberately, there's just very little that I feel like doing, and I don't put myself out and about in a position to get it. The cost of that is living on a mattress in the studio but I'm happier doing that. I'm not that at ease with the commercial communications seduction machine that is going on today. I'm not that interested in a mercenary steering of people toward things that I, myself, don't have much regard for. Consequently there isn't an enormous place for me in the world of general design.

So Pete must have a pretty high regard for handheld gaming machines then. Maybe he plays them while he's lying on his bare mattress in his studio.

Anyway, if you do spot one of these pieces of cut out art over the next few days, or even manage to get hold of one yourself, maybe you can email us and let us know.

Last Updated 20 July 2005