Twenty six thousand stones, that’s diamonds and gold, an Ice-Cream Sneaker, pink Johnson and Johnson baby lotion, a Magnolia Bakery cupcake, Heinz Ketchup, a can of Pepsi, a condom, and a bag of Doritos. All inside the mouth of the Takashi Murakami character Mr. Dob – high on mushrooms (seriously that’s part of the concept.) That’s the collaborative effort, in simple terms, between artists and entrepreneurs Virginia born Pharrell Williams and Tokyo born Takashi Murakami. This year’s Art Basel (AB #40, 2009) played host to this wild creation which just sold for more than $2 Million Dollars.

The artwork titled “Simple Things” was manufactured by Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd in collaboration with Jacob & Co. (aka Jacob the Jeweler). It was started some time early 2007, taking two years to come to complete fruition. Below you will see the piece being exhibited at the Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin booth at Art Basel 2009.

“The Simple Things” 2008-2009
Glass fiber, steel, acrylic, wood, LED and 7 objects made of gold (white, yellow and pink) set with rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds.
74 x 43.3 x 39.7 inches
Unique piece
©2008-2009 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Miami / Paris.

Take a view of Pharrell Williams’ interview with VernissageTV during the exhibition and click the pics taken by BBC and crew on opening day!

This post from the oft-neglected World Famous Design Junkies 3D category.