Marc Newson’s tribute to Malcolm McLaren for Performa
//The Malcolm. Photo (c) Jean Vong.//
This is The Malcolm, the award designed by Marc Newson for the visual arts bienniale Performa; the inaugural award was presented a couple of weeks back by Greil Marcus and Lou Reed to the Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson for his 12-hour piece Bliss.
Honouring the late Malcolm McLaren, The Malcolm goes to artists under 40 who demonstrate “the most innovative and thought-provoking performance” during Performa’s three-week bienniale.
McLaren’s partner Young Kim, who was one of the award judges, said: “Malcolm heralded the new generation of artists today by showing that an artist can work in any medium without boundaries, not just in traditional painting and sculpture. He would be thrilled with this award and I am thrilled for him.”
Newson incoporated in the award box elements found while mud-larking along the south bank of the Thames; the box is made from Macassar Ebony (used as ballast to weigh down ships on the river to the correct water level when they were without cargo).
The pre-Great Fire Of London map lining the interior came from the Guildhall Library and shows the South Bank, the locale of theatres, bath-houses and prostitutes (none of which were permitted inside the City).
The pipe and oysters and winkle shells represent the flotsam and jetsam left in the river after revellers gathered to drink beer, smoke pipes and eat oysters and pints of winkles, the cheapest food at the time.
Since the Thames runs just north of the North Downs, chalk stone from that area is often found up river. The three stones were included to represent the diversity of our capital while the washed up doll’s shoe symbolises fashion, a significant factor in McLaren’s life.
//Reverse, The Malcolm. Photo (c) Jean Vong.//
The back of the award contains the cover for the 1983 vinyl 7″ single Duck For the Oyster – a portrait of McLaren decorated by his friend and collaborator Keith Haring. The pair designed the cover together.
Read about Performa 11 here.
More on Ragnar Kjartansson’s Bliss here.
Recent interview with Marc Newson here.