A New Piracy
„Trophies have little claim to functionalism, as objects, they are functionally useless – cups that are not cups. Instead, their function is symbolic. To commemorate whatever special and outstanding achievement that may have occurred they use a language of specialness that we associate with winning: Shininess, reflectiveness, curves and surfaces that refract light.
Behind this decorative sparkle, however, it transpires that trophies – at least the kind of trophies you and I are likely to win – are literally assemblages of effects. They are assembled from a range of modularized and mass produced components that can be assembled into specific forms of celebration by the addition of particular elements.
This Industrialisation of individuality is unsurprising. Do you really believe that our measly achievements deserve something handcrafted? The reassembly of these Trophy components, sorted into wands of self-similarity, allows us to examine (and enjoy) the decorative language of trophiness.“
Sam Jacob
Rampelotto’s creative misuse of trophy cups allows the poetisation of an object often considered trivial, kitschy, fatuous, if not altogether outdated.
Like a pirate plundering the leftovers of our consumer society and hacking the system of the success factory, he sees treasures where we see junk, he sees possibilities where we see mere futility.
