creator
I first saw one of the Monsterism toys a couple months ago at the Giant Robot store in Santa Monica; bought a couple of them, became an instant fan, and bought a couple more. I don't know how to describe them except to say that they are little Pokémon sized art pieces with interchangable parts. What I like about the ones I got is that each monster comes with a little bio card explaining who each one is and it would seem that they are all artists in one way or another. "It?" comes with a big pencil on a string, "Skelletina" comes with bones that she plays her drums with, and "Kurai-San" comes with an axe that, if you look closely, also doubles as a pencil! This is fun stuff and you can help but get all switchy-witchy with all the parts making you own Monsterism combination. I only wish they were easier to find because I haven't seen them again in the smaller version since picking up those four.
Pete Fowler is the creator of these creatures and he is an illustartor/comic book artist/painter/sculpturer who created this toy line for Cube Works in Japan. Right now, they are starting to put out larger vinyl versions of these monsters and you know they are going to be hard to find too. I conducted this interview via e-mail since it's hard to drive a car across the ocean. Its the first of a few toy creator interviews I hope to do this year.
C: What caused this transistion from Comic Book artist to Toy Creator?
P: It feels natural to me to want to see my flat artwork in 3D, I grew up loving toys so I've always had an interest in those kind of objects.
C: What is the first drawing you remember doing?
P: Possibly a character from Star Wars, or maybe a fireworks display after getting crayons and a book from my parents.
C: Who and/or what are your influences in your artwork and where did your monster designs come from?
P: I was interested in dinosaurs as a kid, science fiction literature and comics, also comics in general. TV animation was quite formative too and a healthy interest in the area of 'the unexplained' and paranormal stuff.
C: Who are some of your favourite local bands? ...Local to you.
P: I dont know, erm lately all we've been listening to is Arm of Roger and the next SFA LP. As two members of the band live in London, does that count?
C: Sure! Do you get hired for more design work in the UK or Japan and what other countries have hired you as an illustrator?
P: I'm still working in Japan and it's probably 50/50 though I'm starting to do some bits and pieces in the US and Europe too. I've just contributed an image and feature in an Australian magazine Refill.
C: What do monsters in your dreams look like?
P: Mostly my dreams are a lot like real life, I've never really dreamt them, unfortunately. I'm still waiting for the dream!
C: Have you ever held a monkey?
P: No, but you've just reminded me of some thing I should get around to doing, alongside riding on top of a giraffe.
C: What was the greatest adventure you ever had as a kid?
P: A three state road trip to the west coast of the USA in a 'RV'. Deserts, the Grand Canyon, Disney, Big Sur and big trucks.
C: What is the dumbest question anyone ever asked you?
P: Maybe not dumb but some questions in foreign languages get pretty messed up when translated into English. I always enjoy those.
C: Will there be a Monsterism cartoon or any other tie-in in the future?
P: We're working on a script and story at the moment that we hope can grow into a pilot some time this year. We've got some great people behind us so hopefully it'll happen.
C: What is coming up next for Monsterisms in 2003? And how about you?
P: I'm working on a project for the next few months, for SFA and have a lot of things planned for the year and others in progress. A few collaborative projects with Paul Smith and Rough Trade and new toy figures and projects. We're going to start on a story book this spring and have several other plans for books and publications.
C: When do you think we'll see a showing of your paintings and sculptures here in the states? Perhaps, at least, a Pete Fowler art book?
P: I hope I can figure something out in terms of a show at some point this year, we hope to get any books over there too and the toys are getting over little by little. I hope I can get my artwork shown maybe linking with some of my sculptures too.
C: Do you follow any superstitions?
P: Never walk under a black cat when a single magpie lands on the lawn.
C: What closing words of wisdom would you like to leave our No-Fi "Readers" with?
P: Make toys not war.
Pete has art shows in the UK and Japan often and you can keep up with his latest work at his fancy website www.monsterism.net where you can also see lots of examples of his artwork and sculptures. Monsterisms can be found (for a few hours at least once they are delivered) in specialy shops that carry Japanese toys like Giant Robot and Meltdown Comics. You can find the Cube Works website at www.cube-works.co.jp.
all toy images ©2003 pete fowler
THE END!
Chris Beyond
