A few months back, MTV held an event in Milan where some of the world’s top artists were asked to customise hand-made resin MTV characters. Jeremyville, Rinzen, Furi Furi, Tado, tokidoki, Mauro Gatti, Yo Clas, Andy and BUGO all contributed. We managed to catch up with some of them for some extra info.

What’s the story behind your MTV character?

MAURO GATTI: Since this toy looks like a real person I wanted to make an X-Ray version of it showing muscles, bones, organs, brain and eyes. I used just white, black and gold colours to create an effect closer to real X-Rays slide.

JEREMYVILLE: How to cover a 3d toy.

STEVE (RINZEN): No story really.. I just like a challenge. I thought it would be interesting to change the hands, feet and general composition of the character… make a cute little marsupial like creature with strange eyes! I mostly focused on the structure of the toy than the surface illustration so much.

TADO: We wanted to do something super clean and sharp – we also wanted to keep it very graphic and simple!

YO CLAS: Has not been easy customize the toy because first of all, MTV asked me to design the TOY so to me it has already its own soul. Then I decided to customize it as it was one of my characters. I felt I was his dad… so It just needed to put his clothes on!

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In 3 words, sum up the event.

MAURO GATTI: Fun, fun, fun.

JEREMYVILLE: Espresso, prosciutto, beer.

STEVE (RINZEN): Beer, Eggs, Resin!

TADO: Fun, fun, fun!

YO CLAS: Had fun with very good new friends.
A lot of drawings!
Glasses of 30 year old Rum with Jeremyville.
(Ed – sentences instead of words are fine by us!)

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What’s the main thing you’ll remember about the event?

MAURO GATTI: The Mtv Party night. Drunk designers busting some moves on the dancefloor.

JEREMYVILLE: Hanging with Rinzen, TADO, Simone Legno, Mauro, Yo Class, Furi Furi…

STEVE (RINZEN): I made some new friends.. met some online friends for the first time.. We all had a superb time continuously drawing with a cold beer by our sides.

TADO: The wonderful hospitality and getting to know everyone properly!

YO CLAS: The great opportunity I had to share five days working with all these big artists.

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If you could make a music video for any track by any artist, what would it be?

MAURO GATTI: Maximo Park or Kings of Leon

JEREMYVILLE: Helpless, by Neil Young, Live at Massey Hall version, 1972. I’d do some animation for it

STEVE (RINZEN): Wow, what a question.. Honestly there are so many possibilities! Rill and I are really into !!! (Chk Chk Chk), so either “All My Heroes Are Weirdos” or “Yadnus” from their latest album “Myth Takes”..

TADO: Puffy ami yumi – boogie woogie no.5.

YO CLAS: Grand Master Flash – Rapper’s Delight

Thanks to all the guys who contributed to this article. Please go check out their work… Jeremyville, TADO, Rinzen, Mauro Gatti and Yo Clas. Thanks to Tokidoki for all the pics as well. Finally, more info on the event can be found at the official MTV Toy site.

POSTED BY Jon