The latest iteration of the illy Art Collection sees influential Chinese artist Ai Weiwei reinterpret the classic illy porcelain cup design by Matthew Thun. Comprising both espresso and cappuccino cups, the designs derive inspiration from Ai Weiwei’s lauded Colored Vases collection. Created in 2006, Colored Vases saw Weiwei dip Neolithic vases into industrial paint tins, reshaping their appearance and function.
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The alteration eliminates the historical and cultural value of the artefacts, hinting at the systematic destruction of history and culture that has continued in China from the time of Mao to today’s unbridled state capitalism. Through a process of appropriation and destruction, Weiwei works to transform ordinary objects into works of art.
Utilising a similar concept, the illy Art Collection Ai Weiwei coffee cups are splashed with gold, black, green, and orange paint lining the rims, creating a drip-life effect.
“I am very happy to be a part of the illy Art Collection,” said Ai Weiwei. “I think it is very important to give power to art and design while drinking good coffee, because it affects everybody’s life. We should enjoy it.”
“The project with Ai Weiwei is an exceptional event, and we have celebrated it with a particularly valuable and refined illy Art Collection,” added Massimiliano Pogliani, illycaffè CEO. From a great personality that has had a huge impact on culture in recent years, speaking out about the complexity of contemporary society, often ironically, we get an optical illusion, a hidden beauty which becomes manifest if we learn to see without the misconception of using one single perspective only. To us, this is what the illy Art Collection project is: art providing an insight through beauty, and Ai Weiwei’s artwork is new and brilliant evidence of this.”
The Ai Weiwei illy Art Collection coffee cups are available to stop on the illycaffè webstore.
Words by Theo Rosen
