Mayo 8/29

From "empty signifiers" to our introduction to different types of Post-Modern architecture, one word kept popping into my head this past Tuesday; "Qee". For those unfamiliar, a Qee (pronounced "key") is a 2.5 inch tall plastic bear, cat, or dog, (although there have been a few minor deveations), manufactured by the Hong Kong-based company Toy2R, founded by Raymond Choy in 1995.

They were unleashed upon pop-culture with the tag line, "Everyone wants to collect more Qee", establishing the fact that, even though you may not now what the word means, or what it represents, everyone wants more.

What becomes interesting to me, and the cause for obsession and questionable priorities in many, is how this very basic toy has been marketed, re-invented, and embodies much of what we have contemplated to this point in class, leaning heavily on the architectural concepts of Radical Eclecticism, Anthropomorphism, Double-Coding, divergent Signification, etc.

Artists, designers, and even commercial entities across the spectrum have been given the basic form to use in what ever way they see fit, with a limited release of any given single design. Toy2R borrowed from collector's cards of the past by sealing these toys in "blind assortment" boxes. This has effectively created a rare, "instant" secondary market.

They are, in essence, theory, art & commerce made one, while remaining unstable and without any deeper explanation or meaning outside of itself. Late Capitalism at it's most playful? The evolution of branding? Pocket-sized Post-Modernism for less than ten bucks? Entertainment and distraction without a doubt.