Dave Bondi’s MxM Project

Dave Bondi’s figure project fusing everyone’s favorite videogame plumber and the world famous celluloid mouse is moving along nicely.  Dave individually showed the rapid prototype of this figure which neatly fuses the two iconic characters — the Mouse: ears, eyes, hands, and lower body and the Plumber: hat, mouth, suspenders, hair and more.  Rather than a celebration of famous characters, Dave’s new hybrid figures questions the status of commercial icons in a pointed fashion.  While Dave has yet to name the figure,  ‘Corporate Whore’ has been suggested and certainly is fitting. 

14 Replies to “Dave Bondi’s MxM Project”

  1. Another dig at the corporate designers, these are getting boring..not that they were really entertaining to start.
    It’s too easy to just point fingers at the big guys, and pointless. And these characters also inspired many of the great artists we have today from an early age.
    Mikey Mouse is fun, Mario is fun. Leave them alone.

  2. I agree okkle……it’s just too easy and popular to be “subversive” that it’s not really subversive anymore.
    I like the idea of this figure, but not as a dig on anyone.

  3. This figure is a good way to describe what is happening in vinyl toys right now which is a popular thing that everyone is using to sell out.
    The vinyl movement is drastically changing more and more, sadly to say the way it is heading is towards the money making machine. Corporate mascots turned into vinyl “art” figures is a good way to show this, whether or not it was indended. Kidrobot licenced to do adult swim, MINDstyle with Henson, Bart Simpson Qees to promote a film, dare I say Vinyl Pulse sponsored by Scion?!
    Yeah things are changing. And the little companies have to compete with all of it. It is all about the little guys and always will be.

  4. I don’t like this either. It lacks originality. Videogame vinyl is cool like that Scarecrow Soopa that’s up on his blog. Now that’s Shweet.

  5. hey mrcrackalacka – or should I say mr scarecrow? -could you be any more obvious or self serving in all of your posts? truely pathetic…

  6. A knee-jerk analysis of the toy being a “dig” on corporations is unfortunately a giant oversimplification. To appreciate the complexity of this piece, I challenge you to answer several questions:
    1. As a matter of law, what corporation can claim to own the majority of this sculpture’s identity? What percentage ownership should be assigned to each of the corporate entities involved? Is it even possible to say that certain “attributes” belong to anyone whatsoever – the cartoon gloved hand, for example?
    2. The Kaws Companion comparison is important and intentional since he also deliberately copies and remixes the cartoon character originally designed by animator Ub Iwerks in the mid 1920’s. Would the same criticism of my work apply if Kaws had never “appropriated” someone else’s work himself? Does it really matter who thought of it first? If an artist decides to paint the respective copyrighted characters in their own “style” is it still a copyright violation? Can an artist’s “style” be owned?
    3. How is it possible that such iconography can become so universally recognizable? As an example, anyone on the street who is over 40 immediately sees Mickey with a mustache, and anyone under 30 always sees more of Mario in the sculpt.
    It is fair to say that to some these questions may seem obvious, irrelevant, or boring; but to me and many other people they strike at the heart of how our culture assigns ownership to ideas and property. I feel there is a direct connection in my work to contemporary pop artists such as the Chapman brothers, Arturo Herrera and Jeff Koons. There is room enough in the art world for a range of styles and commentaries, and this just happens to be what I find interesting. To so readily dismiss the hard work and passion of this artist is not only insulting, but quite shallow. A sobering experience for me to be sure, but I felt I should really respond.

  7. you do your thing Dave
    this figure is fun and pretty cool.
    Don’t worry about what anyone else says you are an artist and a creator, most of the people doing these designer toys have no clue what their figure looks like from behind or how it comes out of the mold or is decorated and look to guys like you for help.
    There is enough room in this pond for all us fishes
    there is no need to feed on each other
    especially by other fellow designers/producers
    lets all play nice.
    Klim

  8. I am a firm believer in the DIY aspect of this
    thing we all do and it is kind of sad to see people
    bashing each other especially since you dont have to be a rocket scientist to figure out who is who and what /why they are saying things they do
    I find that I have seen most of these scenarios before and usually there is nothing that can sustain these clowns for more than a year anyway
    people are not stupid

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