Coke Spoon #2

“… the original McDonald plastic coffee stirrer was taken out of production when the fast food conglomerate discovered it was being used for drug purposes in the 1980’s. McDonald’s became uncomfortable with the affiliation when the coffee stirrers were constantly being used as exhibit in drug cases. “Coke Spoon #2″ is parody and commentary on how culture affects and sometimes dictates an objects status and function. It is a luxury, made to order design object by the fashion designer Ken Courtney (Ju$t Another Rich Kid) whose collaboration with the renowned designer Tobias Wong (June 10, 1974 – May 30, 2010) resulted in the Indulgences range. Ju$t Another Rich Kid and Tobias Wong’s tautology in indulgent consumption came under attack as CITIZEN:Citizen* design studio received a cease and desist order from McDonalds Corporation. “Coke Spoon Nr.2″, a bronze cast and gold plated version of a 1980’s coffee stirrer, will be be withdrawn from CITIZEN:Citizen’s collection immediately.”

“… It ultimately shows the inherent power of objects and their multiple meanings… ”

Philip Wood, Director of CITIZEN:Citizen

* CITIZEN:Citizen reflects upon and engenders the current observations within culture, offering the notion that objects and products can act as insights into our cultural preoccupations. By doing this, we set about to re-imagine and re-assess new ways of seeing our culture through the objects and the world they inhabit.

 

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“Coke Spoon #2 – 14 Tracks to a Discontinued Object” ( for String Trio, Piano, Oboe and Percussion )

is the next step in my work with objects. In my previous compositions I worked with sound objects and connection/relation between object, place and space. The idea now was to compose a piece in direct connection with the real “material” object. The design-object “Coke Spoon #2” by Tobias Wong and Ken Courtney inspired me throw its multiple meanings and interpretations. I see the story of the object as imaginary space, where it exists. And it’s impossible to split the story and the object in mind. In this point I found for me the same aspect of the relation between space and object, but this time on the other, “imaginary” level.

Many of my pieces use the sounds as objects and not as a process. In this particular case I was especially interested in the objects’s information-aura. Therefore, I’ve chosen 14 aspects, which are the most important for the cognition af the object “Coke Spoon #2“, and composed to each of them a short music track. On one side it was my idea to make the music very static, like a logo, trying not to destroy symbolic level of the object. Othersides it was very important for me to give to the musicians certain freedom by the interpretation of singles sections of the composition to emphasize the multiple sense at the object and personal attitude of each performer. Thus, there are 14 tracks for 6 instruments,  each of them consists from short repeating actions. In this way I wanted to reduce the process itself to “process-symbol” and create imaginary (sound-) space, which stays in very close relationship to “Coke Spoon #2”

( Damian Marhulets, 2007 )