True, but disney hardly has the stranglehold on the entertainment industry it once had....which led to Micky's rise to fame. In the world today, and to children today Mickey is relatively unimportant, while mario is a hands on super hero bringing in a new age. I don't doubt that mickey is known in the hearts and minds of more people than mario, currently...but given the demographics of preference, it may not last forever.

anyhow...personally i would only pick up this figure to throw it, I think its lame.

Rather than a celebration of famous characters, Dave's new hybrid figures questions the status of commercial icons in a pointed fashion.

I don't know why but comments like that annoy me.

A knee-jerk analysis of the toy being a “dig” on corporations is unfortunately a giant oversimplification. To appreciate the complexity of this piece, I challenge you to answer several questions:

1. As a matter of law, what corporation can claim to own the majority of this sculpture’s identity? What percentage ownership should be assigned to each of the corporate entities involved? Is it even possible to say that certain “attributes” belong to anyone whatsoever – the cartoon gloved hand, for example?

2. The Kaws Companion comparison is important and intentional since he also deliberately copies and remixes the cartoon character originally designed by animator Ub Iwerks in the mid 1920’s. Would the same criticism of my work apply if Kaws had never “appropriated” someone else’s work himself? Does it really matter who thought of it first? If an artist decides to paint the respective copyrighted characters in their own “style” is it still a copyright violation? Can an artist’s “style” be owned?

3. How is it possible that such iconography can become so universally recognizable? As an example, anyone on the street who is over 40 immediately sees Mickey with a mustache, and anyone under 30 always sees more of Mario in the sculpt.

It is fair to say that to some these questions may seem obvious, irrelevant, or boring; but to me and many other people they strike at the heart of how our culture assigns ownership to ideas and property. I feel there is a direct connection in my work to contemporary pop artists such as the Chapman brothers, Arturo Herrera and Jeff Koons. There is room enough in the art world for a range of styles and commentaries, and this just happens to be what I find interesting. To so readily dismiss the hard work and passion of this artist is not only insulting, but quite shallow. A sobering experience for me to be sure, but I felt I should really respond.