Urban Jacksonville

MUNNY by Brittni Wood of CREATEjacksonville

Thanks to everyone who’s mentioned the show in the past few days! I like how everyone used the show title as an excuse to break out their crazy headlines. Downtown Vision’s newsletter had this to say:

With the Independence Celebration falling on the first Wednesday of the month there is no Art Walk, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss the fun of great art, friends, and Downtown this month!

The Color of Munny is the first vinyl toy art show Jacksonville has ever seen. With more than 25 artists to paint, modify and deconstruct a Munny. A Munny is an 8 inch tall toy made from a soft vinyl and comes in three colors: white, black and glow. Bring your friends and see these spectacular creations for free.

Gimme all your munny (Flufflife)
You may think its funny, When your nose is runny (Tony Allegretti)
If you got the Munny Hunny. We got your disease (JaxCAL.org)
Hunny, what’d you do with my Munny? (Art Isn’t Rocket Science)
The Color of Munny Vinyl Toy Show (Urban Art Warfare)
All Out of Clever Titles for Munny Post + Steve Forster @ BG (CREATEjacksonville)

I also did an interview with Entertaining U. Here’s the Q&A:

EU: Did you invent the MUNNY?
Marchy: No, the MUNNY was created by a company named Kid Robot (www.kidrobot.com). They describe the MUNNY as “the greatest DIY toy”. Theyalso say: You can paint on MUNNY. You can use crayons, pencils, pens, and paints. You can cover him in green fur. You can make things to put in MUNNY’s hands, or hats to put on MUNNY’s head. You can make a spaceship for MUNNY to fly around your house in.

EU: Who built the MUNNY Army? Are they handmade?
Marchy: The MUNNYs are farbricated in a Japanese factory and shipped to toy stores around the world. When they arrive they’re blank so you can customize them and make them your own. Anything done to the MUNNY beyond the initial production of the toy would have to be considered handmade. All of the MUNNYs in the show are painted, drawn and created by hand.

Right now the MUNNY army, as you call it, is about 30 people strong. The artists include: Shaun Thurston, Brittni Wood, Varick Rosette, Ty Williams, Bryan Register, Dan May, Marisa Carta, Ian Chase, Clay Doran, Tonya Lee, Mark Creegan, Russel Quadros, Chad Landenberger, Patrick Carter, Jerry Lambert, Kendrick Kidd, ESKEE, Levi Ratliff, John Arvin, Travis Schmeisser, Nacim Tehrani, Barrett Fiser, Jimmy Pines, Chance Isbell, Nick Wagner, Brad Silverstein, Damon Williams, Jessi Bruton, Karen Kurycki, the two Shaun’s and more!

EU: What inspired the concept of decorated toys as art?
Marchy: The concept was inspired by my time in Minneapolis where I first got into vinyl toys. I followed toy culture online and in magazines and saw toy stores and galleries around the county throwing art shows where artists would paint a blank toy. At the same time artists I loved were releasing special and limited edition toys for collectors. My collection, love and excitement grew from there.

The whole idea of vinyl toys and art shows was so sexy to me and I longed to be in a city where something like this was happening (New York, San Francisco, etc.) So when I got back to Jacksonville I said “Screw it! I’m not going to wait around for someone else to do this. I’m going to do it.” So I did it. I think having this mentality in Jacksonville can benefit us all. We all need to get out there and do something for the city. If you see something missing or if there’s something you want to do, try to make it happen for yourself and for others.

The Art is taking many forms today. Pretty much anything can be customized and put in a show. Skateboards, record covers and even luggage. Toys are the new canvas!

EU: Do you think MUNNYs will be a big topic of discussion on the Urban Jacksonville Blog?
Marchy: Seeing as I run the Urban Jacksonville blog and this is my show, hell yes!! We’ll have updates all this week and full coverage of the show next week. Complete with pictures of all the MUNNYs for those of you who can’t make it to the show. Who knows, maybe I will even interview myself at the show.

EU: Are MUNNYs intended for children or adults?
Marchy: MUNNYs are for all ages. The vinyl was created to allow easy application of all sorts of materials that kids use: markers, crayons, paper mache, etc. The toys are also easy to cut with a knife and allow for bigger kids slice and dice the MUNNY into a more a advanced piece.

EU: Will the decorated MUNNYs be available for purchase?
Marchy: Some MUNNYs will be available for purchase. However some artists have grown so attached to their MUNNYs they just won’t be able to part with them.

Special thanks again to the W.A. Knight building and all our all our sponsors.

The Color of Munny show
July 7th 2007
7pm -> Thief in the Knight gallery downtown.
118 West Adams Street (map)

For more information on the show contact me.

Thanks to all the sponsors who helped make the show happen: W.A. Knight building, our gracious hosts. Burrito Gallery, CREATEjacksonville, Nick Wagner, nGen Works, The Fox and Entertaining U

This entry was posted on Monday, July 2nd, 2007 at 8:50 pm and is filed under Art, Downtown Jacksonville, Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.