Functional pieces of art (EN)
A brief comment on the semiotics of art in advertising, based on a campaign by Red Bull, with the title "Red Bull Curates: The Canvas Cooler project".The commentary follows a descriptive approach; surprisingly, it is this element that gives birth to most interesting questions: on the one hand, regarding the way that borderlines and definitions dissolute within the economy of the spectacle; on the other hand, about the role of stereotypes and the way they are used as “simulation models” within the framework of advertising semiotics.
I. The Company
Redbull, the company that produces the energy drink of the same name, has repeatedly used various aspects of contemporary lifestyle (music, visual arts, new media, sports) for advertising purposes. Its marketing strategy is based on the use of world-renowned festivals, events, physical spaces as a brand-flag, through generous sponsorships that enable the company to add its brand name on the title (Red Bull Arena, Red Bull Music Academy etc.). What follows, at a second level, is the reproduction of those events digitally, in the form of interactive online campaigns. This description is important because it defines two simultaneous regions, the physical and the digital, within which its campaigns are -not independently- developed.
II. The Campaign[1]
In this context, Redbull developed in 2013 the satellite campaign “Red Bull Curates: The Canvas Cooler Project”, which as indicated by the title itself, regards the -commercially unified- fields of art and design. The core of the campaign was a call to young, ambitious street artists (“new art stars”) of four -not randomly selected- major US cities, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, to create on the surface of canvas-wrapped coolers, that contained cans of the energy drink. The finished coolers were in turn presented as “one of a kind” “functional pieces of art” during special events-exhibitions, that fulfilled every standard of a contemporary art fair. The hosts were known galleries and art spaces, while the call was communicated by established art and culture institutions in each city. Twenty finalists emerged from those events, whose coolers-art works are to be exhibited in a special all-star event in 2014.[2]
III. The canvas-cooler: a necessary semiology
The canvas-cooler as the outcome of this procedure presents a special interest as a borderline sign-object, in which the art of contextualisation meets semiotic design. Its about hyper-objects, on which advertising -for its own purposes- projects a double status: that of a piece of art and that of a design object.
At the same time, the brand impersonates the curator -namely the creator of the context or “cultural officer”- of the exhibition, role which is explicitly and foremostly mentioned in the campaign’s title, “Red Bull Curates”. The “work of art” quality then occurs very naturally within this context. Moreover, it includes a creative process -which was recorded by a fully-equipped crew- from artists on canvas, scheme that bears an immediate reference to the idea of art. The fact that the canvas is wrapped around a cooler rather underlines its “work of art” status, in accordance to the latter’s “emancipation” from usability.
At the same time, the canvas-coolers are explicitly referred to as “functional” objects, whose aesthetic quality is formed by the creator, now transformed into a designer. The placement of energy drink cans within the coolers only strengthens the idea of usability (whether those coolers actually functioned remains an entertaining yet irrelevant detail), while at the same time they are presented as limited-edition packaging of the product (energy drink cans) themselves.[3]
IV. On display: functional pieces of original artwork
An additional significant element of this campaign was the attention -and the budget- paid to the complete recording of the procedure and its latter reproduction in various media. Viewed from this perspective, the creative process, the participants and the final events themselves were but a flawlessly directed performance, whose real advertising power relied exactly on the possibility of its digital reproduction, as well as, on the flexibility of the media and means of distribution it offers -a byproduct of this campaign was a new application (Street Art View), featured as a digital global exhibition/mapping of street art.
In the digital world, any paradox occurring from a close -physical- inspection of objects and events appears to lose its meaning.[4] So they can appear and be reproduced very naturally, openly and without risk.
Indicatively, the Huffington Post of San Francisco wrote: “Once in their respective venues, the coolers will remain on display as functional pieces of original artwork.” while the words of Robert Christian Malmberg, director of the Canvas Cooler seem to outline such a view: Canvas Cooler San Francisco is a valuable and stimulating experience: fine talents making functional works of art, bringing the community together through creative processes, and using form and function to express individualism all connecting to the greater project [5].
V. The winner
“Designers and advertisers are now forced to chase social images, whose dynamic is way over their control” [Perniola, 1991:155]. Advertising appears capable of overcoming the dead end of its own negation, through a shift from the creation of social images to the crafting of the context within which individuals themselves undertake -with the enthusiasm of a well-trained creator- the (re)production, selection and consumption of their images.
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Footnotes
[1] Information relative to the course of the campaign are so dispersed in various media (videos, photos, captions) and websites that a complete and linear scope turns out to be rather challenging.
[2] The concept of discovering the next new talent, as set by reality shows, has been used repeatedly in Red Bull’s campaigns (eg. The Art of Can, Red Bull Threestyle, Chariot Races etc.).
[3]Following the example of Absolut Vodka (see: packaging a brand).
[4]Following Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.
[5]Mia R. Benenate, «Red Bull Canvas Cooler Project Comes to San Francisco». http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mia-r-benenate/street-art_b_1064385.html [23/4/2014]
