A Prague design studio had no qualms about taking their tableware to Milan for the world to knock off. Koncern, a team made up of Jiri Pribyl and Martin Imrich, used Fake It Easy as the theme (or invitation) to their work. The attitude was "Hey, we'll be knocked off anyway, why not serve it up and have some fun?" So they started with beautiful Czech glassware. Then they borrowed heavily from other sources, such as joysticks, rear view mirrors and a variety of handles, for embellishment. Would anyone still want to knock off the work? Raised lettering was also part of the work, both to easily identify the designs and the idea, as well as to say, "Look, already labeled! Why change a thing?" Their elegant installation was beautifully presented, so it was fun to watch visitors trying to make sense of it, especially the rubber stamps that allowed one to identify oneself as fake, of course.

Fake It Easy was the theme of your exhibit in Milan, which pokes fun at the notion of knock-offs and acknowledges that most design has been inspired by the work of others. Do you know whether any of your designs have been pirated?

Of course! We have been working for Cybex Industrial Ltd. for more than 6 years, and we design children safety car seats for them. Two years ago, we counted 3 Chinese producers at one fair who presented fakes of our products. Some were very similar and also some that were inspired. Seven years ago we also designed a lighter for Marlboro, and then six months after that we held copies of it in our hands. But what we felt was more pride for our work than hate for those who copied it; it was the pride of someone who can influence the aesthetics of this world.

The Fake It Easy collection, while tongue-in-cheek, encourages others to copy it. What were some of the reactions during the exhibition? Was anyone offended? Did people think the concept was silly?

We met two Chinese delegations that were offended, they probably came to Milan for purposes of "faking"... but there was also a large number of well educated Asians who understood the concept and stayed long in our exhibition. Our concept is a mixture of openness and irony, and this is the aspect that makes some people with black and white thinking uncertain. We were also invited by one Taiwanese professor who is preparing a book about copying. Even Marcel Wanders who knows Koncern from previous exhibitions in Milan considered the collection good and very contemporary. There was also a very funny teacher who interpreted the collection very emotionally to her students, saying that it was very wrong and unfair. I was hidden among the students and found out that she has no idea what Fake it Easy is about.





It is not unusual for two designers in very different parts of the world to come up with similar ideas. How can they protect themselves against accusations of piracy?

Parallel ideas and copying are different because the one who copies something invokes in our mind exactly the picture of the original. So there is no need of protection.





Here is a cheeky question: Whose designs would you like to copy?

Ha, ha, ha, Rolex, Armani, Louis Vuitton, Mercedes ............ or MUJI products, they don't display a brand and are very ordinary; they also deal with the "fake it easy" problem and are distinguished.

+ koncern.cz