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Designer art toys have stories to tell
I Donut CareFor My Royal Ego studio’s toy designer, Abell Octovan, social media has seemingly become a new religion in Indonesian society today as people’s obsession for receiving many likes and followers has made them thirst for publicity
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I Donut Care
For My Royal Ego studio’s toy designer, Abell Octovan, social media has seemingly become a new religion in Indonesian society today as people’s obsession for receiving many likes and followers has made them thirst for publicity.
To express his criticism over the phenomenon, his art toy, New Religion #1, depicts Mickey Mouse’s two hands in a praying position to the like, profile and comment buttons of Instagram. This work drew the attention of many during the Chromaticity exhibition at the Can’s Gallery in Jakarta.
“My toys are a stinging satire on the country’s social and political issues,” said Abell in a recent talk with Museum of Toys cofounder Win Satrya at the Can’s Gallery.
Win, who has collected about 14,000 limited-edition designer art toys at the Museum of Toys, said that his playful collection was special because it not only sparked joy but also had a message that could trigger a conversation.
I Donut Care, for example, criticizes selfish people who think only of themselves for their own pleasure without caring about others’ feelings. Created by Abell, the Simpsons-themed toy resembles a raised middle finger to symbolize arrogance, with two other fingers holding a glazed pink donut. The hand is yellow because it depicts the hand of Homer Simpson, who loves eating donuts in the American animated sitcom.
Designer toys were pioneered by renowned Hong Kong artist Michael Lau in 1998 with the Gardener comic strip for East Touch magazine. His influence led to the emergence of local urban toy designers in Jakarta in the early 2000s, according to Abell. In 2008, Win’s toy outlet, The Other Culture, was the pioneer in bringing designer toys from renowned foreign toy companies, such as United States-based Kidrobot, to Indonesia.
“I imported designer toys as references for local creators to learn. I want them to know that the industry of designer toys is there and we can bring the toys that they make to other countries,” said Win.
Abell, who started to design art toys in 2008, said that the satire in his works was inspired by foreign artists like Ron English, who is known for making designer toys with humor to ridicule and criticize stupidity or wrongdoing, particularly in the context of politics.
Designer toys that depict popular figures are common, such as Ronald McDonald in English’s toy, MC Supersized, which criticized the effect of fast food franchises and restaurant chains on American culture.
However, Abell recalled that after Singapore studio Mighty Jaxx launched I Donut Care, he got a warning from the Fox Broadcasting Company, the producer of The Simpsons, over copyright issues.
“A team from Mighty Jaxx then followed up the case legally and then found out that Fox had yet to patent Simpson’s hand holding a donut. What Fox already obtained a patent for was the whole body of Simpson,” he said.
Other well-known characters that also inspired Abell were Mickey Mouse in his toy, New Religion #1, and Winnie the Pooh in What a Wonderful World. All the toys he designs are produced by foreign toy companies, such as Mighty Jaxx and adFunture in Hong Kong.
He said he found it difficult to attract local toy producers because art toys produced in a limited number of copies were deemed nonprofitable for them.
Win, who says that toys play an important role in his life, is “over the Moon” because Indonesia’s talented toy designers have made a name for themselves in the art market, such as Jakarta illustrator Crack, who is popular for developing characters and mixing them up with graffiti and street culture.
He said the Museum of Toys was setting up a factory to produce local creators’ works. “We are also creating a very good website to compete with Mighty Jaxx and Kidrobot soon. So, we are going to be part of this ecosystem to show the capability of our local designers.”
Learning from Doraemon, which managed to strengthen Indonesian and Japanese relations, Win said he believes that original toy characters that Indonesian toy designers had created had potential to be among the country’s soft powers. He said the Museum of Toys already collaborated with the Indonesian Art Toys group to motivate more Indonesians to create designer toys.
As art is limitless, taboo-subject-themed designer toys are not an issue for him and some related to sex are on display at the Museum of Toys. However, he admitted that he is not interested in having toys related to religion because they can be deemed offensive by some in Indonesia.
Abell said he is now thinking of how to make designer toys with themes related to traditional wayang (puppets).
“We are exploring a way to show the Indonesian side. Is it allowed for us to twist wayang a little bit? We are still questioning it because some people say that the Javanese puppet has pakem [rules] that we cannot break.”
He admitted that designer toys, typically made of resin and vinyl in sizes ranging from hand-held to monumental, had yet to become a booming business and gain popularity in Indonesia, as many found it difficult to afford their high prices.
“The market is segmented. However, when someone already falls in love with designer toys, they will collect them like crazy,” he said, adding that he and Win were trying to develop the Indonesian market.
— Photos by A. Kurniawan Ulung
