Since Lance Armstrong with Livestrong put their finger in the light socket that is the art world, there’s been wild electricity. This year sort of got started with the Livestrong x Shepard Fairey collaboration. That was fire. These are definitely hot. Designer Marc Newson, the childlike artist Yoshitomo Nara, and the most expensive artist in the world Damien Hirst. I’ve got butterflies!
Since these bikes are a little bit more about the aesthetics than they are about the technicals, I’ll give a nutshell bit of info about each of the artists involved.
Damien Hirst has bank. He’s gained major notoriety for his dot paintings, his frighteningly alive dead animals frozen in their most exciting moment in formaldehyde, and of course, his butterflies. The Trek Madone bike Hirst has designed here he covers with a collection of real butterflies accented with socking pink.
Marc Newson is the designer. He’s worked with Nike, Ford, Dom Pérignon, Cappellini, Qantas, Samsonite, and Jaeger Le Coultre amongst many many others. His furniture bit “Lockheed Lounge” is still the most expensive piece of furniture ever sold at auction. His Trek Speed Concept features a “Stroboscopic” rear wheel that “appears to pulse as it spins.”
Yoshitomo Nara designed the giant dog that sits on the first floor of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. That’s the closest I’ve ever been to a piece of Nara. Nara loves hardcore rock’n’roll, and rocks the hardcore simplicity in cartoon characters who often wield knives and other deadly weapons. Nara’s Speec Concept bike features what you can see in the pictures as well as a phrase on the bike that can only be viewed when Armstrong’s head is “deep in aerodynamic tuck:” Never Forget Your Beginner’s Spirit.
*PS if you don’t follow Lance Armstrong on twitter, do it. It’s so completely worth it just to see how often he gets at it. Check that out here: @lancearmstrong – the @ culture is strong!
Designer: Trek Bikes, Damien Hirst, Marc Newson, and Yoshitomo Nara
