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Hard To Beat T-Shirt

Ade Wilson

By Ade Wilson
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Ade Wilson

Ade Wilson

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Hi Guys,

I am really puzzled. I received a white box last Monday which was printed with the words "Hard To Beat " in raised lettering.

It was sealed shut with a label that reads:

Hard to Beat - The Art of New York

Hard To beat turns New York into an Art Gallery.

We do not stretch canvas over a wooden frame, we use cotton on a human

body.

The paint is real, each shirt unique.

We have selected you and 99 other New Yorkers to be a part of something

beautiful, something important.

The artist behind this project is a nobody and a somebody

You cannot buy this art, it is only given.

It is priceless.

Enjoy!

Inside was a tee which is hand printed with some kind of thick ink, maybe by a blockprint. it certainly isn't screen printed. There is a label inside which reads "Hard To Beat, the Art of New York. Ironing destroys art".

The T Shirt has 2 stags on it and different words such as "Unexcelled" and "shirting". There is also a code on the side which reads "H2B 70" which i presume might be the number of the shirt.

Anyway, I have no idea where this thing has come from as there is no phone number, website or whatever. It was even hand delivered. I am a photographer but no-one has mentioned this to me, called to see if I got it, nor do I know anyone else in New York who has one. It is driving me nuts. I presume it might be marketing something but nothing comes up on google. maybe an art event or something - it is also fashion week this week.

Any ideas? You guys seem to know the latest obscure stuff.

Adrian

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Ade Wilson

Ade Wilson

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OK, I think I worked out the image site. If it works I will be very impressed.

VSTARR, what is on your shirt and what do you do for a living? I am an interiors photographer and am based in manhattan. I do not have a t-shirt or clothing line but have been on supertalk many times, using it and worldsbestbars.com to give me tips for places to visit. I just never needed to post before. I am not doing this to promte my photography but you can check out my website if you want at www.interiorphotography.net. I have plenty of work and do not need to drum busines up by posting a t-shirt question on Superfuture!

I thought that maybe it might be linked to a Res non Verba website, which seem fairly political but then i don't know why that would make me appear on their list. I am not even bothered about the t-shirt, but it might be something I will regret if I give it away. I kind of like it anyway, but don't want to walk around advertising something I might not believe in. It could be from Target for all I know, or for some cheesy TV show.

Anyway, here are the codes that Imageshack generated for a forum. If anyone wants to email me direct, I could send them the images if it doesn't work.

Ade Wilson

[url=http://img376.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hardtobeatsleeve1gx.jpg]http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/8972/hardtobeatsleeve1gx.th.jpg</a> [url=http://img376.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hardtobeatshirt8bd.jpg]http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/6333/hardtobeatshirt8bd.th.jpg</a> [url=http://img376.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hardtobeatlabel0og.jpg]http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/5739/hardtobeatlabel0og.th.jpg</a> [url=http://img376.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hardtobeatinsidelabel8nj.jpg]

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Ade Wilson

Ade Wilson

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The green links don't work, but the grey url's do if you cut and paste. Here are some that were missing too

[url=http://img376.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hardtobeatsleeve1gx.jpg]http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/8972/hardtobeatsleeve1gx.th.jpg</a>]</a> [url=http://img376.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hardtobeatshirt8bd.jpg]http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/6333/hardtobeatshirt8bd.th.jpg</a>]</a> [url=http://img376.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hardtobeatlabel0og.jpg]http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/5739/hardtobeatlabel0og.th.jpg</a>]</a> [url=http://img376.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hardtobeatinsidelabel8nj.jpg]http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/350/hardtobeatinsidelabel8nj.th.jpg</a>]</a>

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djrajio

djrajio

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Hmmm. Interesting. The style is very surface-to-air/grn apple old block-lettered/gothic/old english. I'm curious what the other poster's shirt looks like and the relationship between you two. Having two supertalk people posting on this site with only supposedly 100~ shirts is still very good odds...

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darknworn

darknworn

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pretty cool. i suppose these shirts were screened while they were on some bloke's body, per the tag's description. this sounds like a promotional item for a shirting company. if it is, well done indeed. in any case, it's a unique shirt with a unique story.

"God is Dead" - Nietzsche icon_smile_angry.gif

"Nietzsche is Dead" - God icon_smile_cool.gif

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Ade Wilson

Ade Wilson

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I just want to know more about it. There must be plenty of people like me who look around the site regularly but don't actually contribute (sorry!). The print is really raised in bits and quite rough - I thought it was a block print. The ink also goes through the shirt so I feel sorry for the guy who stood there and got inked!

Hard to Beat does sound like a company name, which is why I figured it might tie in with NY fashion week but I don't shoot fashion, and with no contact details it is fairly obscure marketing to say the least. Still would like to know how or why I was selected I am either really cool, or being stalked!

Ade

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Ade Wilson

Ade Wilson

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By the way, just so I contribute to this forum rather than demand answers, here are a couple of favourite websites - one decorative, one a clothing line that I came across in Brussels a month ago which i thought was funny because I shoot for David Rockwell:

http://homokaasu.org/rasterbator/

http://www.rockwellclothing.com/collection/winter2005/

Adrian

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djrajio

djrajio

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Hmm. Your analysis about receiving the t-shirt during New York fashion week is interesting. I'm actually going/have been to number of runway events myself. I'll be more aware/on the lookout for others with a similar t-shirt.

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Guest

Guest

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Hi All,

I think this whole thread is funny.

None of us know anything about what it all means and maybe the marketing scheme is to get people talking about it. I was with someone last week (Lizzie from Rockwell) who knows the owner of Superfuture and I mentioned about this post to her and the shirt. That is about the only other link I can come up with between me and the shirt and this website. I also haven't posted anything about this on any other website, so I can hardly be accused of creating a marketing scheme about a New York product on a fairly obscure Japanese site (as good as the site is).

I did a whois search on the domain owner and it is listed as Mr Hardto Beat in a midtown NY building, which is in the garment district but the phone number is just an answering machine.

Maybe some people are jealous they didn't get a shirt, maybe the artwork is not very good anyway, or maybe the fact we are talking about it is the whole point of sending the shirt out. For all I know, there are other people posting elsewhere or talking to their friends too about where the hell their shirt has come from and what it all might be about.

Maybe it was destiny for something which has no price tag or trendy reputation to be discussed on a site which is based on exclusivity and cool brands.

To be honest, I have given up caring, although I really still would like to see Vstarr's shirt. Anyone live in NY and want my shirt?

Adrian

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest

Guest

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Hello everybody.

I have very much enjoyed reading this thread.

The idea with the Hard to Beat project is to undermine the financial and celebrity values of New York. The shirts are given and so worthless. Donald Trump cannot buy one but a skater in Union Square gets his for free. Not knowing the person behind the label means that the recipient must use their own judgement to decide if they think it has any worth. There are no usual clues to help.

I also wanted to show that there is a fine line between art and fashion. Fashion designers steal ideas without shame or retribution. Producing a piece of art on t-shirt material rather than canvas yet still calling it art, rather than fashion is meant to be a provocation to plagarists. They are both original creations made using paint on cotton and should have the same legal protection.

If the recipients like it or not, wear it of frame it, I do not care. The important thing is that it creates a reaction and instigates thought and maybe even discussion.

There have been quite a few emails from people who read this post and want a shirt. This was never part of the plan but I am going to make one available. As you people are very cool, you are going to have to go to probably one of the most uncool but popular stores in Manhattan - Conway.

On Tuesday September 26th at 1pm at Conway on 35th and Broadway, there will be a shirt hidden in a cream dogtooth fabric suitcase. The briefcases are located downstairs by the check out.

Sorry for you out of towners, but this project is for New York only.

Enjoy!

The Hard to Beat Artist, New York

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cutefriendanton

cutefriendanton

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Hey,

I was skateboarding at Union Square and got handed a shirt by this guy who said he was working for an artist to hand out the shirts. Mine is a burgundy V-Neck and has the same thick ink that was talked about earlier. It almost seems like it was silk screened with puffy paint. I'm pretty stoked on it and would post up a picture if I could, but I don't have any way to. Mine is numbered H2B 50 on the back and has a Union Square graphic on it. Apparently there are different ones for different areas around the city.

LAZER~!

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