Muc-Off and Stuart Semple collaborate on bike to support Mind
Muc-Off and British Artist Stuart Semple have unveiled an exciting new collaboration – with a custom painted Canyon Endurace CF SL which Semple has named ‘HappyBike’.
HappyBike will be on display at GIANT Gallery in Bournemouth on 15th September with the online auction launching at 6pm. Visit the Muc-Off website here to bid. The auction will run for one week, and all proceeds of the sale will be donated to Mind.
The collaboration was born out of a shared love for the colour pink between two neighbours and friends – Bournemouth-based artist Stuart Semple and Poole-based Alex Trimnell, CEO of the bike care and maintenance brand Muc-Off. Muc-Off first gained notoriety with top riders for their famous bike cleaner – a perfectly pink spray – and continues to use the hue throughout its brand identity. In 2016, Semple released his ‘Pinkest Pink’ – a response to Anish Kapoor’s exclusive use of the colour Vantablack – and launched a whole array of custom pigments available to artists all around the world to buy and use.
“I’m actually obsessed with the colour pink, it’s a powerful colour that you never can quite miss or ignore. There’s something potent about it. I love the idea of the bike as a canvas because it’s something that has utility. People can actually use it and take art out into the world,” said Stuart Semple.
Semple and Muc-Off also share a reputation for their rebellious and unconventional approaches. Semple is well known for his sociologically engaged works that often discuss youth politics, accessibility, and democracy, with a contemporary emphasis on latent fear. Particularly in his performance art, his work also often tackles the themes of accessibility, equality, and elitism head on, such as in his ‘Hostile Design’ campaign and through CultureHustle.com, an elaborate and ongoing piece of internet performance art through which he pursues his mission to liberate colour from the chains of trademarks and greedy corporations. Muc-Off, since its inception in 1994, has become renowned for its edgy and experimental brand communications, often jarring with an industry which is steeped in tradition, conformity, and exclusivity.
“At Muc-Off, we’ve always looked beyond our industry for inspiration. We love provoking a reaction with our brand, as an artist does with their artwork. I’ve been a fan of Stuart’s for a long time, his punk mentality is clear in everything he does, and he makes art accessible to everyone, not just the elite. This is exactly what we aim to do within our category, so I’m stoked to be collaborating with him on this project and raising money for such an important charity, said” Alex Trimnell, CEO at Muc-Off.
‘HappyBike’ is painted using Semple’s ‘Pinkest Pink’ pigment and features thousands of smiley faces all over the Canyon Endurace CF SL frame. The aero-focussed, sleek form of the frame provided the perfect canvas to really showcase the design, which was also complemented with an upgraded DT Swiss ARC 140 wheelset.
The design stems from some of Semple’s most instantly recognisable works, including his sculptural installation in Denver, I should be crying but I just can’t let it show – a huge squished smiley face, forced into a smile between two buildings in a downtown alleyway. He also released biodegradable smiley face clouds from the Tate Modern across the London skyline, a symbol of hope at the height of the 2008 recession. Semple’s HappyClouds performance has since been toured to cities around the world, including Toronto, Milan, Dublin, Hong Kong, and Moscow. In 2018, Semple’s ‘Happy City’ project took over the city of Denver, incorporating a series of large-scale public artworks, installations, immersive experiences, and his participatory exhibition ‘Happiness HQ’.
The individual smiley faces on HappyBike are not visible when viewed from a distance, which Semple likens to a crowd of spectators or a peloton, which appear to be a single entity from far away; it is only when you come closer that the individuals – each unique, like real people – are revealed. The design also signifies Semple’s belief that we are stronger around other people, especially when dealing with mental health challenges, which can intensify when we feel alone and disconnected from others.
Semple openly talks about how he uses art and creativity as a therapeutic outlet to help him deal with his own mental health challenges and those of his late grandmother, who developed late onset schizophrenia in 2011. It was at that point his partnership with Mind began, with Semple becoming an ambassador of the charity and setting up the ‘Creatives Therapies Fund’ which provides access to art, writing, and music, supporting others through their issues with mental health. Although not a cyclist himself, Semple recognises that sport, and specifically cycling, can be another outlet for improving mental health.
“I think in life we all find things that make us feel better as a way of coping with what we are going through. So many people I know turn to cycling as a way to get out of their head and into the world, and that’s exactly how I use painting,” said Stuart Semple.
