25 MAR 2022

Creating Fine Art Collectibles

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The world of art collectibles holds many surprises and covers a wide range of art styles. We get delightfully surreal pieces like Matt Bailey’s Breakout and even fun parody works like The Art of Picking: Mona Lisa.

The Art of Picking: Mona Lisa by Po Yun Wang
The Art of Picking: Mona Lisa by Po Yun Wang

Collectibles also marry the worlds of pop culture with art, take a look at our XXRAY range of figurines and you’d find instantly recognizable characters like Chopper from One Piece merged with the iconic dissection style of Jason Freeny.

What Makes A Collectible “Fine Art”?

A quick Google search of the term fine art brings about a large category of artworks into its definition. From paintings to sculptures, to music, and even architecture. While the search results don’t all agree on the type of works that constitute fine art, they all agree on the definition;

An art form practiced mainly for its aesthetic value and its beauty rather than its functional value.

By that definition alone, collectibles are “fine art” as they’re made for aesthetic purposes rather than function. Of course, every now and then art and function come together to create works like Kiri Mountain incense chamber.

Playing With Materials

Mighty Jaxx phygital collectibles are predominantly made of two materials - vinyl and polystone. Vinyl is well-loved in the collecting world for the flexibility and lower costs the material affords, while polystone is liked for its premium feeling. 

The Smoke Calavera by Butch Locsin
The Smoke Calavera by Butch Locsin, made from porcelain

Of course, there’s a whole world of materials out there, and limiting our fine art collectibles to just vinyl and polystone wouldn’t be as exciting. We research different material types for our figures as well. The different properties of each material give each collectible a different look and feel even if the silhouette is the same.

Read Also: What is Phygital?

This is most obvious in our Premiumworked line of ultra-high-end collectibles. Here, you’ll find collectibles made from the highest quality and most premium of materials like bronze and wood. Comparing a vinyl Happy Popek with a wood one, you can see the difference material play makes in the look of a collectible.

Happy POPek
Happy POPek (L) & Woodworked Happy POPek (R) by Whatshisname

Premiumworked figures fit the stereotypical impression of “fine art” with higher prices. While not everyone can afford the high price tag, everyone can appreciate fine art. As we explore more materials, we came across porcelain and ceramics to add to our material repertoire. These materials lend a unique finish to each collectible while helping keep them within reach of more people.

From Art To Collectible

We’ve previously shared about how we conceptualize our phygital collectibles and how we bring 2D imagery to life as a 3D piece, you can read more about conceptualizing here and sculpting here.

Through the years we’ve turned illustrations, tattoo art, and even hand sculpts into phyigtal collectibles. Did you know, we’ve also worked with performance artists like Butch Locsin and Azuma Makoto to bring their performance pieces to life?

Flower and Man (Winter Edition)
Flower and Man (Winter Edition) by Azuma Makoto

Using their performances and/or installations as a basis for the design, our concept artists work with the artists to come up with a collectible that embodies their works as a phygital collectible. From capturing iconic details like the colorful flowers, down to even the specific flowers chosen for Flower and Man (Winter Edition), that adorn Makoto’s works to the seeming intangibleness of smoke that is predominant in Locsin’s performances for The Smoke Calavera.

Read Also: Conceptualizing Collectibles.

Sometimes, a piece of art lends itself to function. With The Smoke Calavera, the decision was made to turn it into an incense chamber as it fits with the concept of Locsin’s performances. Or in the case of Rob Bowyer’s The Knight (Hell Chamber), turning it into an incense chamber helped convey the other-worldly mood of his artworks. 

The Knight (Hell Chamber) The Knight by Rob Bowyer Artwork
The Knight by Rob Bowyer, collectible (L) and artwork (R)

The final step before production begins is prototyping. Often done with 3D printing, the prototyping stage lets us test out colors, balance, among other things. Due to the intricate details that adorn many of our fine art collectibles, the prototyping stage is also where we test out parts separation.

Droopy Cat by PoOL
3D printed prototype of Droopy Cat by PoOL

Parts separation plays an important role in strengthening every collectible. It protects the integrity of the prototype and helps with a smooth assembly during production. Every component is also strengthened through clever jigsaw-like design, ensuring that if one part of the collectible breaks it will not compromise on the overall stability of the collectible.

Collect Them All!

Now that the term fine art collectibles isn’t as out of reach as it seems, how about getting your hands on some? Whether you want to start small with our blind boxes or go all out with our Premiumworked releases, there’s bound to be something for you from Mighty Jaxx!

Keep up with all our releases on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and be sure to subscribe below to be kept up to date with all our exciting developments! We’ve some really exciting things planned for the year and we can’t wait to share them with you.

Breakout by Matt Bailey

Matt Bailey

Breakout by Matt Bailey

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Droopy Cat (Trippy Edition) by PoOL

PoOL

Droopy Cat (Trippy Edition) by PoOL

169.0 USD

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