articles

Consumer Product

By Pauline van Mourik Broekman, 16 October 2008

After launching Bill Barminski's whole back catalogue on the successful "BARMIN-SKI: CONSUMER PRODUCT" last year, Consumer Productions (Webster Lewin, Jerry Hesketh and Bill Barminski) are now putting out "The Encyclopaedia of Clamps", another pop-product introducing multi-media artwork and a set of lovable characters such as Jimmy Slime and Cyclops Boy (already familiar from BAR-MIN-SKI).

As in the last CD-rom, the Encyclopaedia will integrate a mixture of 2D media, paintings and drawings into constructed 3D environments with various central characters forming an exploratory narrative and general information space. Barminski's work: born to be interface, slightly tongue in cheek, retro and pastel-political is a kind of angry version of My Little Pony, out of sync with contemporary art by a decade or so at the very least, but fully forward compatible with new notions about the leveling of hierarchies digital technology is going to bring to global culture (see Toby Crocket's essay on his work: "Technology makes people democratically inclined").

BAR-MIN-SKI is a very funny CDrom and, if it was only to be introduced to the concept of Tex Hitler, I'm glad I have this particular CONSUMER PRODUCT.

Consumer Product