OtherCriteria.com, their online presence for the vision of an eleven strong team of designers, production managers and assistants, is supported by the off-line exposure of their merchandise at their two London stores, 36 New Bond Street, and 14 Hinde Street, London. I personally feel that this review represents a validation of my own beliefs that the humble t-shirt has until very recently been a neglected medium in the world of the arts and that perhaps now at long last both artist and collector can truly engage in a whole new field of creative consumerism unseen in retail history. From the likes of Damien Hirst to Banksy, a more general public have at long last been able to engage on a deeper level with every echelon of the artistic community, conceptually and emotionally helping to support their practice, forming their own base of opinion and venturing forth where no consumer has ventured before.

My own experiences of the British arts education system have left me somewhat jaded, with tutors and galleries alike assuming that only the elite can appraise, criticise or even purchase art. This seemed an outdated premise even then, some 20 years ago, but at long last with the progressive attitude of companies such as Other Criteria, the urban art movement, the rise of the global Internet community, and a general awareness by all of the context both sociopolitical and historical that we find ourselves in today, we can expect this to be but the beginning of a far more self-aware consumer revolution. The art market is also shifting in a new direction, unaffected by the establishment’s world weary view of what should constitute creativity. Art for the people = power to the people. Mass consumption has led to many problems in our age, yet now at long last the individual seeks more than an aggregation of the familiar, they crave the unique, the fundamentally altered, a higher perspective of both their own existence and the world we live in.

The contemplative, inspirational and highly acute products of OC are one example of a progressive wave of entrepreneurs and creative collectives aiming to offer an alternative vision, one that suffices more than mere need or want, supplanting the desire for the object with a heightened sense of realism, a proposal for a new and deeper relationship between consumer and producer. In this context, at this time of political, social and economic turbulence, quality of life, quality of experience, and quality of the product are at the forefront of public expectation. Now is the time to consider Other Criteria, and of course in particular their own fine range of art tees.

.000139 cal./millisecond Tee by Michael Joo

This t-shirt design by Michael Joo, a highly respected American/Korean artist whose works have been compared to such grand dignitaries of the arts such as Joseph Beuys offers us a snapshot into the the cold and calculated physics of death, or rather the mechanics of murder. .000139 cal./millisecond dissects both the means and results of a single gunshot, the primary image revealing the inner workings of a typical Smith & Wesson revolver, almost as a pathologist might do with the recently deceased victim of a violent crime, veiled with the objectivity of science, using terminology and procedure to mask any empathy or emotional connection a technician of the mortuary may have for yet another John Doe. Subtly secreted on the sleeve is an infamous quote from John W Hinckley Jr. which reads ‚ÄúGuns are neat little things, aren’t they? They can kill extraordinary people with very little effort.‚Äù Hinckley is known for his attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan, perhaps the most Republican of all Democrat leaders in the history of North America. He was supposedly obsessed with Martin Scorsese‘s masterpiece of the silver screen ‘Taxi Driver‘ and in particular De Niro’s portrayal of Travis Bickle which in turn was based upon Arthur Bremer, the attempted assassin in 1974 of U.S presidential candidate George Wallace. However Hinckley’s true reason for his own assassination attempt was actually due to an obsession with the actress Jodie Foster who played a child prostitute in the movie, it was simply his way of drawing her attention towards him after several other stunts including threats of hijacking a plane had failed. Joo’s t-shirt reveals a shocking slice of social history blurred and marred by the over-weaning influence of both technology and the media on the fragility of the mind and body. It is available in black for £30 in sizes small to large for men, and small for women.

Beyond Belief Tee by Damien Hirst

Yes it’s a Damien Hirst piece, based upon his work For The Love of God, a diamond encrusted platinum cast skull which cost £14 million to create and was sold after being exhibited at the White Cube Gallery in London for £50 million, the highest ever recorded price for a new piece of art. Before the arrival of Hirst and in particular this piece of work I had always had an admiration for Jeff Koons, and in essence how he had in turn managed to ‘play’ the art market. Before we get into any arguments about elitism in the arts let us just consider one thing, those individuals, trusts, corporations, and private organisations with the budget for such pieces play a rather schizophrenic role in many successful artists’ lives. Those who ‘invest’ to such a phenomenal degree in the arts allow artists to expand their vision, invest in their space, materials and new pieces for the future. Furthermore that funding allows those more philanthropic artists to set up ventures such as Damien Hirst (amongst others) with OtherCriteria.com or Banksy’s PicturesOnWalls.com in order to showcase many other talents in their respective genres and beyond. But more than that it is a philosophical yet proverbial two fingers up at the establishment, as mentioned earlier American artist Jeff Koons had done something on similar lines at almost the very beginning of his art career. – although to a far less grand scale with his Jim Beam J.B. Turner Train. Koons’ early career was funded by his job as a trader on the stock market and he was well aware of exactly how money made money, by casting his train in silver he was guaranteed to move his work to a ‘higher bracket’ in the art market. This all may sound too cynical for some but it is the nature of mankind to exploit, be it minerals, metals, energy or indeed creativity. Is it not better that artists like Hirst exploit themselves rather than wait for uninformed money men to do it to them? Beyond the mere mechanics of this work there are many other factors to consider including the cult of youth, the media fuelled global fear of decrepitation, surface beauty including the ironic use of various killer toxins such as Botox in skin treatments, monetary versus intrinsic value, the value of the individual in an overcrowded and under resourced world and so on. A metaphor for a generation, for an age, and now for those with less than vast economic resources, you can purchase a Hirst in the form of a t-shirt. Beyond Belief is available for £45 including VATin sizes S – L for men, small for women and also kids’ sizes at £25.

Untitled (Drainer / Globe) T-Shirt by Michael Craig-Martin

Michael Craig-Martin is what I call, for the main part, a seminal conceptualist, detached, implicit, and at all times very much aware of the rules and constructs within which he engages. His treatment of images intentionally lack differentiation, sometimes incorporating art references, such as iconography and/ or iconic objects found in Dada artworks. His work can be compared to that of his earlier contemporary Patrick Caulfield and latterly with that of Julian Opie. Craig Martin was born in Ireland, grew up in the USA eventually studying Fine Art at Yale before moving to Britain in 1966. As I research the connections between Michael Craig-Martin, Damien Hirst, and others who all were eventually involved in the ground breaking Freeze Exhibition in 1988 I realise I may have made the biggest mistake of my life by choosing to attend Brighton rather than Goldsmith’s. I studied art from 1988 to 1991, I suppose I can’t regret it now after all this time but it does seem the sort of people I needed around me then were in London, it’s a shame but it can’t be helped now. This is a fascinating piece, or rather engagingly banal, and deliberately so. Using a range of colours that may look more suited in a children’s book or a nursery, applying mechanical widths to each line, the juxtaposition settles and unsettles in waves of equal measure. Craig-Martin’s first retrospective took place at in the Whitechapel Gallery in London in 1989. In 2006, the Irish Museum of Modern Art presented ‚ÄúMichael Craig-Martin: Works 1964-2006‚Äù which included works from over 40 years of Craig-Martin’s career. To own your own piece of post modern art memorabilia purchase an Untitled (Drainer / Globe) T-Shirt for £30 in sizes small for women and small to large for men (including VAT).

Can’t Breathe Without You T-shirt by Rachel Howard

The name Rachel Howard first came to my attention within a quote by Damien Hirst in reference to his spot paintings and in particular their production process. “I only ever made five spot paintings myself … And my spots I painted are shite. They’re shit compared to … The best person who ever painted spots for me was Rachel. She’s brilliant.” “The best spot painting you can have by me is one painted by Rachel.” Howard has exhibited across the world, her unique large scale paintings venture into an abstraction of the human condition, consistently addressing actions of futility and moments of realisation once found soon lost. This t-shirt refers to a solo exhibition and book from her 2007 collection Can’t Breathe Without You, her works having always fused corporeality with the (il)logical progression of dreamlike thought processes, figurative and abstract layered to an extent that one feels swallowed by the assuredness of the lie that is the promise of truth. This t-shirt featuring an asthma inhaler is available for £30 in sizes small for women and small to large for men.

Do visit the rest of Other Criteria a fascinating outlet for high art, even for those on a low budget.