Wicked! Design on the Edge of Bad Taste

This book is about blood, violence, and weapons, about sex and genitals, bowels, bodily fluids, and decay. And, yes, it is about design. Because a rift is developing in the world of our aesthetically designed everyday objects—lamps shaped like weapons, bloody dishware, a gasmask as showerhead, a dildo in the shape of a crucifix, a coffee cup sporting breasts, jewellery made of real teeth—a myriad of morally dubious ideas are being translated into products. Is this arrogant and repulsive or poetic? Is it art, kitsch, parody, or irony? And, is it OK if such things make us laugh? Wicked! features works by more than eighty international designers, artists and companies, both of high and low culture—from Ettore Sottsass’ phallic “Shiva” vase or Philippe Starck’s “Gun Lounge Lamp” to the anonymous penis mug and weapon-shaped chocolate from the gift shop.