I always wondered during my travels to Europe if an expensive line of trashcans from Denmark would gain traction in design and shelter magazine-obsessed America. When I saw the line was picked up by Water Works and DWR (not to mention a few others), I realized that Vipp’s time had come, despite recessionary times. Even artist Dominic Wilcox took a shine to them. What makes this line even more intriguing is Vipp’s noteworthy annual limited-edition artist series, including amazing takedowns from Bono, Helena Christensen, Todd Oldham, Sir Terence Conran, Ron Arad and Christian Lacroix. Taking that momentum one step further is Vipp’s colorful Spring ‘09 celebration of NYC: The Yellow Cab Series. If you have a penchant for colors that pop in your kitchen or bathroom, as well as a desire for mechanical and design detail in everything in your home, then head over to a Vipp dealer to test drive this latest rendition. Death-defying speeds on 7th Avenue during rush hour not included.

We’re not sure that Dubya, Dick, and Rummy will ever give a straight answer for their reasons for invading Iraq this last time, but popular opinion can be best summed up by that early 90’s anti-war mantra, “No Blood For Oil.” Echoing that sentiment Andrew Wilcox (noted for his collaboration with Ji Lee on Tag A Dummer) along with photographer Jonas Lara have created a video showing Iraq veterans invading a gas station. It serves as a scathing critique on the Bush administration’s foreign policy, as they assert through Operation W.A.N.T. (We Are Not Toys) that soldiers should not be treated as plastic toy pawns in their war games.

In spite of all of the warnings about global warming, there are still those that continue to drive the gas guzzling behemoth that is the Hummer. The tank-sized vehicle is often purchased to compensate for shortcomings both mental and physical or just as a garish show of riches. In order to offset this ostentatious display of wealth and environmental disregard Ji Lee, Andrew Wilcox and Nelly Ma have come up with a project entitled Tag A Dummer. The project asks people to download and print out the letter “D” as provided and tag any Hummer they see by gluing it on and rebranding their vehicle a “Dummer” to alert the driver to the error of their ways. While it probably won’t convince people whose idea of a good time is cruising down the street in an urban assault vehicle to become environmentally conscious, it might at least go a short way in knocking them down a peg. Visitors to the site can also read up on the environmental impact of the vehicle as well as see pictures of Dummers that have been tagged.

Throwing out rubbish is not something you’d think to make more interesting, but Dominic Wilcox has come up with a project that will have you finding reasons to make that trip to the trash can. As part of the Vipp charity auction, the idea man has created a Xylophone Bin, which consists of a xylophone spiraling down the outside of an everyday dustbin with a lid. Hit the pedal to pop the lid, and when it closes you are treated to the inexplicably pleasant sound of an erratic descending scale courtesy of a metal ball released upon the lid’s shutting. Sound weird? It is.

When we last left Dominic Wilcox, he was puttering around the U.K., building absurd model airplanes. Now he wants to take you to, Niketown! Well, Niketown, London. Besides running a Nike iD session on May 9 at the megastore (stop by and say hi), Wilcox has been working on a project for Nike’s Art of Football put together by their 1/1 collective. By painstakingly gluing together plastic footballers (read: soccer players), he’s made a tiny “Cave” for your trainers (read: sneakers), a 3D piece called “Top Corner,” and a couple of blocks of toy athletes. Wilcox writes on his blog, “Gluing the footballers was certainly a challenge. It became almost a meditative process. At one point I was in ‘the zone’ to the point that a super glue tube got stuck to the side of my finger, yet instead of spending time removing it, I picked up another tube and continued on.” Wow. We wonder if his design studio has their own fight song.

By now you may have heard that Airbus’ A380, the world’s largest passenger jet had its maiden voyage from Singapore to London. The 471 passenger big boy is cleaner that a traditional jumbo jet, has more leg room than your traditional jet, and the airline attendants hand out bars of solid gold instead of salted peanuts. But, you know what else has more space? Three jets! UK artist Dominic Wilcox demonstrates that will a little ingenuity and some modeling glue, he too can be on the cutting edge of aeronautical engineering. It also totally beat our concept of having commercial airline passengers fly on Voltron’s back.

If you’re anywhere near, say, London this weekend, be sure to swing by the second annual Super Design Market. The event is a “curated design market” — think museum meets wallet — featuring 30 pieces by some of the great up-and-comers of the European design scene. And all of the pieces are ready and waiting for you to purchase there on the spot; none of this “I saw a really interesting snarfulwidget this weekend, I wonder if I’ll ever actually be able to find it in a store.”

Special thanks to Dominic Wilcox (if the name doesn’t ring a bell, maybe his iconic War Bowl will) for sending us the info. If you make it over to the market, be sure to stop by and check out Dominic’s Anti-Theft Bike/Car Device. “Note. This anti-theft device is not guaranteed to work in any way.”

This is an old one, but a good one. Inspired by the images of legendary music photographer Mick Rock (the official photographer of David Bowie throughout the 70's), creative duo Steve Mosley and Dominic Wilcox of Mosley Meets Wilcox, have created the Mosley Meets Wilcox Meets Rock, Bowie Collection. An eclectic mix of ideas and objects, the limited edition collection features vase sets (100), tables (100), and plates (250), all adorned with Bowie's likeness. Through their collaboration Rock, Mosley, and Wilcox have brought us a rock inspired collection that occupies territory somewhere between art and design. The Limited Edition Bowie Collection is available at Paul Smith Stores worldwide.