Kittenface presents: Transform!
The Old Sweet Shop, Sheffield, 2010
kittenface is adorable
kittenface snakes west
kittenface turns and looks to you for advice
kittenface is adorable
KFP:Transform! was an exploration of adding value in unconventional ways to otherwise ordinary objects.
The items on display in the Old Sweet Shop. The demand to transform! was also a formula, which was written onto the shop wall to give the casual viewer some clue what was going on: A(rtist) >(f(Artist))>O(bject) >(f(Shop))>(yo)U
The Old Sweet Shop was until recently a shop for arts and crafts in Sheffield, UK. Over six months Bunn developed a product range for display in the shop. Each item was fairly typical for a shop of this kind, except that they were generally plain to look upon but adorned in other ways.
KittenFace itself led the range. A cynical, lazy cartoon brand splodge, the idea was that KittenFace could transform into anything without really having to change at all. The splodges also came with a long list of titles, which served a similar purpose: KittenFace Explodes the Arms Race / KittenFace Faces Up to the Facts / Kitten Face and the Quest for the Holy Tail / KittenFace7 / KittenFace in : Sveltwalk / KittenFace clarifies the Basics / Touching Base with Kitten Face: Health, Tsunamis, Magenta / Dance Regimen: Shape up with Kitten Face / Understanding Economics with KittenFace
Further significant works from the series included:
Signet-ure Series Coffe Cups. The cups were purchased at a department store in the town centre and floated up the River Sheaf in child's water wings (see video).
'Daddy' Bunn with his baby 'swans'
Display copy of Signet-ure Series Coffee Cup, with the waterwing that carried it up the River Sheaf
Negative Plant, a hollow plant made from the papaer that killed the original
Negative Plant. Negative Plant started out as a real plant, which Bunn then papier-mâchéd, suffocating the plant. He cut the dead remains out via the underside of each leaf, resulting in a negative and realistic cast of the plant itself.
For your further interest, let us return to the main picture to discuss two ancilliary works:
The large picture frame (right of main picture) contained a promise. On purchase a paper flag that was flying on the flagpole above the shop was taken down and framed by the proprietor, who's hands were covered in wet gold paint at the time of framing.
Unfortunately the image of the flag a'flyin has been lost to the mists of harddrives.
graphic for 3 for 1
The framed pictures (left of main picture) contained pun generated works, created on top of greetings cards of emotional significance that had been given to Bunn by friends and loved ones over the years that he sealed into the works, in order to bury them in plain sight. He doesn't talk about what was in them, only what was put on top.
Only a Pound contained an elaborately framed pound coin.
On Sale was arranged in the shape of an exclamation mark and contained an orange bar which re-appeared in miniature flying on the sail of a reproduced Whistler painting.
3 for 1 contained lots of typical trios, plus an alluring undecription code.