All Dolled Up

You can do a lot of sick, twisted things to a 20-inch bunny doll. A benefit and opening-night party for Kid Robot‘s new temporary shop at 281 Lafayette Street (the location kept a secret until the day of the event) featured no end to the variations in its installations of figurines, all customized by Kid Robot’s eclectic roster of friends, fans, and associates. (Participants were given either the unadorned, bunny-shaped “Dunny” figurine or a super-sized version of FatCaps, a line of miniaturized figures shaped like a can of spray paint.) The Dunny submitted by The Daily Show boasted the navy blue suit and official show mike of its newscasters (the show was recruited through Daily Show associate producer and resident toy freak Dave Blog); rapper Lupe Fiasco offered up an elegantly feminine, floral example; Keenan Duffty, the British clothing designer with a rock-star clientele and a line at Target, made his Dunny up to look like Bowie circa Aladdin Sane. Other artists included everyone from graf legend Seen to beverage companies Izze and Sobe to—would you believe—the 12-year-old spawn of notorious nightclub entrepreneur Peter Gatien. Sounding a bit like 12 going on 40, the precocious Xander Gatien described his New York gangster bunny, which had an LCD screen implanted in its back and was named for Circa, daddy’s new club in Toronto—as evocative of nightlife and “big business.” (Xander also informed us that he works on the technical aspect of his art pieces while his partner handles the painting: “That’s how we roll.” Okay.)

We found that the more fascinating submissions were not from major names like Marc Ecko, but less recognizable designers like Justin Pitkethly, a horror makeup and special effects artist for 28 Days Later and Sleepy Hollow, who contributed a zombie bunny with rotting, bleeding flesh and a killer grin. We also liked Berlin-based pixel artists eBoy, who suffocated their Dunny’s head and face in a knitted blue face mask inscribed with the word “love”; and a designer called Urban Medium, who knocked the top of his FatCap to slap a cage on it, with another can of spray paint implanted inside (oh graffiti, the caged art!). But leave it to Heatherette to boast the only hot pink Dunny with its own yellow Dunny thong. Richie Rich took care to inform us that the tiny scrap of yellow bejeweled fabric, a gift from a friend, supposedly once belonged to none other than Ms. Pamela Anderson herself. “I just though Dunny might appreciate it more,” Rich explained. Fair enough.