UrbanWire

‘Walking’ art specimens? Quite literally so. These 400 rare sneakers from the ‘Sneaker Pimps’ exhibition have already roamed the US of A. Their next destination? The world. UrbanWire catches up with the snazzy ensemble on the opening night of the exhibition.

If you were one of those who reached out a curious finger to touch these sneakers with pseudo-puke curdling out, we’d love to see your expression when you find out you’ve touched real pubic hair – they’ve been cheekily stuck on. Rest assured, the rest of the footwear at the Sneaker Pimps exhibition aren’t quite as wicked, but they’ve all got their own idiosyncratic flavour.

Taking it back to the ‘soles’ of the street, the ‘Sneaker Pimps’ exhibition features 400 personalised sneakers created by a host of local and international artists. They’re one-of-a-kind, often infusing hip hop, vintage and pop art influences, and autographed by celebrities from the likes of rap star Jay-Z to former tennis star Boris Becker. They’re mini installation arts in their own right, and more than just mere sneakers.

For one, where else can footwear make a subliminal statement on, erm, bird flu? Mae Quijada, 21, the set designer for the exhibition, elaborates on the pair named Ducks and Chickens, saying “The shoes are kept white to symbolise hygiene. The creator also placed a layer of acrylic on the shoes to catch dust particles to remind people to keep things clean.”

Others took a naughtier spin on their work. While shopping around Arab Street, Robert Upton, 32, picked up toy apes and directed them into a ‘mini-threesome’ atop a shoe. The rest of the monkeys were stuck around, probably observing the act in animalistic amusement. The Creative Director of Kiosk Communicate reveals, “I’m thinking of selling them to the SDU as a sort of way to promote the whole ‘make more babies’ campaign.” Now that should set some ideas spinning…

Alex Koh, 29, local designer of Hooked Clothings, spent only a day perfecting the artwork on his piece. The product? A funky fusion of pink, black and white paint sculptured to give the sneaker a layered and rough texture. Not bad for someone who claims he had “absolutely no idea how to go about designing the shoe”.

For fans of music collectibles, the Nike ‘Beatles’ sneakers are a steal with newspaper clippings of the Beatles printed on in beige and black – the song title ‘Paperback Writer’ is shown closely at the bottom. For movie buffs, there’s a black pair of sneakers made exclusively for the cast and crew of Kill Bill with the title of the movie stitched to the side of the shoe. There’s even a piece titled Pee Pot by a Hong Kong artist. Naturally, it has a handle on the top– we wonder what comes out.

Undeniably, these are rare, customised footwear. However, the brands behind the shoes are probably already at the fingertips of any street kid: Royal Elastics, Adidas, Nike, Puma, K-Swiss, Converse.

And they’ve travelled halfway round the world, absolutely free, for your viewing pleasure, probably inspiring all manners of shoe fetishes in its wake. These sneakers have already toured the United States and plan to stamp Hong Kong, Tokyo, Auckland, London, Paris, Stockhold, Munich, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Brussels and Prague onto their passports.

These exhibitions are held absolutely free, so if you’ve missed it when they were held here from 26th to 28th March at Space 21, sorry these sneakers aren’t for sale and will return to their creators after touring the globe. Just don’t kick yourself with an ordinary-looking sneaker.