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Icons contribute to the creation of myth. Sometimes, though, myths are wrongly elevated to idols. And it is at that point that we have to destroy the icon to destroy the false idol.
The hall tree Cactus is an icon in Gufram’s Multiples collection that has become a myth in the history of design and has deservedly become part of the collection of the most important museums and cultural institutions all over the world. There are tales, though, of places on the planet earth, where Gufram’s green Cactus has been elevated to the rank of idol by sects that are dedicated to its very observing and integralist cult.
The prestigious magazine Wallpaper
dedicated the cover
of a special insert to it
TOILETPAPER, Maurizio Cattelan’s and Pierpaolo Ferrari’s editorial project, has dedicated several years to intense anthropological studies of the rituals of the tribes who worship the Big Cactus, and have recognised the blasphemous absurdity of this useless devotion to the fakest inanimate vegetable in the world.
Guido Drocco and Franco Mello, Cactus’ 1972 designers, once aware of this embarrassing news, have agreed together with Gufram to take important steps. It was necessary to destroy the icon to terminate the idol. But how to do it? Maurizio and Pierpaolo, mindful of the golden calf, realised that the only way to eradicate this phenomenon was to insert into the icon an animal element considered unpopular to the peoples worshipping the Cactus. It is a pity that they did not take into consideration the fact that eggs are considered divine signs of fertility and regeneration.
It was a big mistake: a new god was born. The Cactus with eggs is now GOD!
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Coat stand made of soft polyurethane, finished by hand with Guflac®.
*Detachable eggs of soft polyurethane, upholstered with fabric.
