Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld lists among his favorite artists Tom Sachs and among his prized possessions the invitation that the artist sent out for his Lever House opening in New York last May. In typical Sachs' fashion, the invitation was a Hello Kitty wind-up toy in do-it-yourself plastic packaging with the name of the artist taped to it (pictured below).
As described in a catalog for one of his shows, Sachs is a "bricoleur—one who hobbles together functional contraptions out of already given or collected materials which he re-tools and re-signifies info new objects with novel uses, but more importantly, which he regenerates into a new, oscillating syntax: one of loss, gain, and more than anything, one of play."
Sachs is famous for works that explore themes such as branding, consumerism, and product fetishization; one such example is "Hello Kitty Nativity" in which he staged a Christmas scene for the windows of Barneys with the iconic character Hello Kitty in Chanel in the starring role. Sachs is also a talented photographer, including a recent session with Vladimir and Julia Restoin-Roitfeld for Pop Magazine. Check out the extensive snapshots of Sachs' studio on Supertouch Art, it is truly amazing to see the working space of this creative genius including gems such as his personal survival kit...
Tom Sachs portrait © 2009 Olivier Zahm. All Rights Reserved.
Tom Sachs Lever House invitation photograph © 2009 Condé Nast. All Rights Reserved.
Tom Sachs survival kit photograph courtesy of Supertouch Art.