Levi’s Back pocket project: internet auction kick off
LEVI’S® BACK POCKET ART against AIDS
An ‘original’ project (www.levisbackpocketauction.com)
To announce the arrival of the new brand store at the Kammenstraat in Antwerp, Levi’s® felt the need to be omnipresent around the city in the weeks before and after the opening. Why? To make youngsters enjoy art and culture again and to raise awareness for the fight against AIDS, a cause dear to Levi’s®. Teaming up with LUCY, the pop up lounge bar and creative place to be on the ninth floor of the former Alcatel Bell building in the South District of Antwerp (het Zuid), was the natural thing to do.
To attain these goals Levi’s® invited about one hundred international and Belgian artists to customize the legendary Levi’s® back pocket to their own taste. The result surpassed the wildest expectations. Among the participating artists were musicians such as electro-pop band Vive la Fête, triphop-pop pioneers Hooverphonic, pop revelation Fixkes, singer-songwriter Milow, painter Bruno Vekemans, calligrapher Brody Neuenschwander (calligraphy for Peter Greenaway’s “The Pillow Book”), (almost) smartest man in the world David Davidse aka Madame Germaine de Coeur Brisé, angry young poet Andy Fierens, several graffiti artists and skaters, and, Belgium’s own Liberace, … Eddy Wally. And more and more everyday people picked up a ‘virgin’ back pocket to give a loose to their creativity. Both at the Levi’s® brand store and at LUCY a real Levi’s® wall of back pockets arose, an exhibition of Levi’s® back pockets turned into little works of art. This rotating exhibition of back pockets was subject to continuous change: new pockets came into play, as others disappeared or travelled to the other location. Initially a local project for Antwerp, the back pockets caused such a buzz in the media and among the public that the conquest of the Netherlands was to follow …
Although the project has been extended several times due to its immense success, it now comes to an end: all Levi’s® back pockets are gathering on June 19th 2008, for the last time. Some of them accompanied by their spiritual parents. Before they are brought under the hammer, enjoy a last glimpse of these little works of art. Then surf to the internet auction on www.levisbackpocketauction.com and place a bid on your favourite(s). May the pocket be with you! The auction runs from June 20th to September 30th 2008. The entire proceeds will be donated to the ‘Projet SIDA’ by the Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine.
