Bear hunting in Bangkok

A HUNDRED comical Be@rbrick bear dolls – a new teddy for a new age – are parading along Idea Avenue at Siam Center all this month as part of the Japanese playmate’s “Be@rbrick Worldwide Tour II”.

Tokyo-based manufacturer MediCom Toy is turning more than just youngsters’ heads with the exhibition, for which the bears have been customised by Thai and foreign artists and designers.

Hundreds of local collectors turned out for the show’s grand opening on Monday, with 60 fans set to win a chance to buy the limited-edition Be@rbrick X Mamafaka based on the late Thai designer Prusapol Mookdasanit’s popular character.

Hong Kong film star Edison Chen served as curator for the touring exhibition that opened in Osaka, Japan, in 2012 and visited Shanghai last year. The first world tour celebrated the Be@rbrick’s 10th birthday in 2011. 

“I was a big fan of the Be@rbrick even before I met the people at MediCom Toy,” Chen said at the Bangkok opening. “We’ve worked together on different models for 10 or 15 years now, and with the world tours I was able to bring in new artists – contemporary art is my hobby. I think it’s interesting to see Be@rbricks as art, not just toys, and we can present the bear in different characters.”

MediCom unveiled the bear at the World Character Convention in Tokyo in 2001, just as a gift for attendees, but it’s since collaborated with other brands like Nike, G-Shock and Tommy, British illustrator James Jarvis and Japanese photographer Mika Ninagawa to continuously develop its appearance. There are now more than a thousand designs in 30 series, each series with its own theme.

“I’ve collected every single one,” Chen said. “They always surprise me because so many people are working on Be@rbricks all around the world. I would say it went beyond being just a toy-collector craze when Chanel got involved. Fashion people started to understand the importance of the Be@rbrick.”

With its simple but whimsical form, the plastic pot-bellied bear can move its head, waist, limbs and wrists. The original height is seven centimetres, now referred to as “100%”, but you can now get them in sizes all the way from 50 to 1,000% (a half-human-scale 70 centimetres). Naturally, the biggest version is the one everyone at the Bangkok show is lining up to get selfies with. 

Certainly not neglected at the exhibition are Jarvis’ colourfully painted edition, the white one that Ninagawa adorned with different kinds of blooming flowers, a pink-poppy Be@rbrick from Sanrio, the one that looks like Doraemon courtesy of manga studio Fujiko Fujio, and the black Star Wars Be@rbrick resembling a robot from Lucas Film, the California studio behind that film franchise. 

Art-minded Chen has contributed a pair of unusual designs – one that’s “burned” out at the belly to reveal what’s inside, and a white version with a face like the Alien from those scary movies. On the torso it says, “Colour is emotion.”

“I’ve done 15 Be@rbricks,” he said. “They asked me to make some for the first tour, something commercial, but I was more interested in seeing what the Be@rbrick would look like if it was burned. I thought it was more interesting to look inside its body.” 

Among the Thais participating, new-wave graphic designer Rakkit Kuanhavej has stencil-sprayed the bear with geometric lines in dark blue, grey and red. It’s actually reminiscent of the national flag. “I tried to put my own style into it,” Rakkit said. “My work is mostly about geometry and it’s very colourful. I was glad to get my own Be@rbrick because I’ve been a fan since my university days!”

Thatchamapan “Pom” Janjamrassaeng, best known for her pretty, romantic illustrations, surprises with a golden Be@rbrick with a glaring face and sacred Thai tattoos all over its body. “The inspiration comes from the Thai belief in tattoos and amulets bringing luck or protecting us against danger. The gold represents a temple, and the face is adapted from the guardian statues at Wat Pho.”

Actress Araya “Chompoo” A Hargate decorated her bear with artificial flowers and gave it thick eyelashes. Property developer SC Asset applied the concept of contour landscaping to its figurine. Absolute Siam by Siam Center came up with a muay thai Be@rbrick.

Meanwhile Edison Chen was making the rounds, looking exactly like a 40-year-old man in a little kid’s toy shop. “I don’t honestly know if it’s more a toy or a decoration,” he admits, not really as bewildered as he looks. “When you say it’s a toy, for me it’s more about expression, something to put in any corner of the home that can stir good feelings. That’s what I asked the artists put into their designs.”

There are more than bears in the pop-up Be@rbrick store – key rings, pens, notebooks and various other figures in varying sizes, like Daruma, Ebisu, Rillakuma, Tanuki and even Superman and the Riddler.

Collector Wien Bhrombhama, 32, couldn’t be happier with the exhibition. “It gathers plenty of unusual creations from many artists,” he said. “I started collecting Be@rbrick figures in university and there are now so many different designs. The big selling point is that it’s packed in a blind box – you can’t see which one you’re buying. Maybe it’s all a gimmick to build up the toy community and get people sharing, but items like Be@rbrick X Mamafaka will only increase in value in the future.”

 

TOO CUTE TO IGNORE

>>The Be@rbrick Worldwide Tour II exhibition continues all this month on Idea Avenue on the first floor of Siam Center. There is no admission charge.

>>The mall is open daily from 10 to 10. 

>>Find out more at (02) 658 1000, extension 2265.