Travis Louie Uncle Six Eyes Resin
|Some people had given up hope that the Travis Louie Uncle Six Eyes bust would ever get to see the light of day (through all six of his eyes). As one of the first art multiples by the fine artist, it seemed to be caught in some sort of production black hole. When it showed up two years ago at SDCC, hope was renewed, and then…nothing.
Like those smoke-and-mirrors tricks where a magician saws a maiden in half, Travis Louie Uncle Six Eyes got the chop. The figure is now a bust, and I mean that in form, not in judgment. Sculpted by Scott Wetterschneider of Shinbone Creative (formerly of Bigshot Toyworks), the bust appears to have an incredible amount of detail. (Peep Louie’s original painting below to see what the sculptor was up against.)
Uncle Six Eyes is a true “art multiple” or “art toy”. It’s a 3D sculpture of an artist’s 2D character. For the many people who can’t afford an original piece by Travis Louie, Uncle Six Eyes is an amazing deal at $120. It’s also a call to action: buy artwork created by and endorsed by the artist not some cheap etsy ripoff…
The bust is limited to 150 pieces in white and 25 pieces in black. The black version will only be available direct from Travis himself, while the white will be available in limited quantities from William Baczek Fine Arts in Northampton, MA and online RIGHT NOW directly from Shinbone Creative HERE.
I love the piece and Travis artwork, but as it’s a 3D print from digital model you can see how the eyes are 100% identical and pointing mathematically same direction and teeth are simply copied bulky 3D objects. This face is screaming for little assymetry.
There it is, again. Why is something that is based on a painting a “true” art toy? I disagree about this. If anything, the derivativeness of many collectibles in the designer toy scene makes them more merchandise than anything else… Certainly less art. I’m sorry but from my point of view very few toys are a good adaption of their previous life as a painting or illustration. Case in point: kidrobot’s newest misadventure in their black series. They turned an illustration that told a story into a statue that is reduced to the sexual appeal of the main character. I’d rather have an original designed toy without a picture than one that can’t even capture the strenghts of it’s own medium.
A toy that is based on an existing piece of art (often a painting) is a true art toy because that’s how I choose to define the term “art toy”. In my opinion, “art toys” differ from designer toys because of this and various other logistics (like location and the type of artists themselves.)
Much of Kidrobot Black toys are “true art toys” by my definition, but yes, I agree with you that they’re not often as successful as the original 2D art. I think of “art toys” as STRANGEco in the early-to-mid 2000s. It’s just a phrase I feel comfortable using on my blog, but certainly there are other phrases and also exceptions to this one.
Thanks for your comment. It’s good to talk about these things.