I came up with a new project question to make it more specific to what I want to do:
How can we educate art toy collectors and the broader consumer base about the cultural and artistic significance of art toys to ensure that they are appreciated beyond their trendiness?
This new question covered all the topics I wanted to do:
- Pop Culture art
- Art toys can be considered a form of pop culture art (contemporary pop culture)
- Artist collaborations = street artist, graphic designer, illustrator
- Creating a culture of collectors who follow new releases like comic books or sneakers
After the tutorials, I learned that the new question is too long and it sounds like two questions. I need to make it shorter and give it a theme, an audience, an action, and an outcome (it doesn’t need to have four of those but should have at least 2-3). Also, I need to know why I do this, start with the personal and why its important for my audience?
For the intervention idea, I called it ‘Guess the Meaning’. I planned to go to the POP MART shop in Soho and ask the customers who shop there to participate in my intervention.
Process:
- I will bring art toys, and I’ll let people choose the art toy they like.
- I will ask them to write why they are interested in the chosen art toy and any feeling or design that makes it stand out to them.
- I will ask them to guess the meaning of the chosen art toy.
- I will tell the real meaning of the chosen art toy to them.
- After they know the meaning, I will ask them how they feel and how it changes their view of the art toys.
I also plan to talk with the POP MART staff for more information for my research.
- Who are your main customers?
- What type of art toys are most popular? IP or Artist?
- Do customers often ask about the artists or the meaning of art toys?
- Which art toy is the best-selling?
- Have you learned anything interesting about art or art toys from working here?
On 10 May 2024, I went to the POP MART shop in Soho to test the intervention.
I brought 3 art toys for this intervention, as shown below.
The image shows the participants’ opinions about their chosen art toy and their feelings.
The result of this intervention shows me that after people knew the meaning of art toys, it changed their perspective because it meant different from what they thought. Some participants said that they would still buy it because they felt the same way as the art toy said. On the other side, some of the participants said that they would not buy this art toy because the meaning was too sad for them, even if it looked cute.