The Internet world was tittering and titillated this past weekend with the unveiling of the Dildomaker, but anyone who prematurely added the innovative gadget to their Christmas list is in for some bad news.
Over the weekend I got in touch with Francesco Morackini, the deisgner of the Dildomaker, to talk about his wondrous creation. WARNING: What follows might be a crushing disappointment to a certain subset of individuals.
(For those who missed it, the Dildomaker is a mysterious, conceptual device created by Morackini that would allow owners to carve dildos out of almost any material of sufficient length and girth (cucumber, candlestick, etc.) from the comfort of their own homes.)
In an email, Morackini first emphasized that he's a graphic designer, and not a tinkerer, first.
"[Maybe] it would have been more appropriate to put it in the Art column," he joked.
An industrial designer by day, Morackini wrote that he "us[es] using industrial design as medium to produce art pieces."
"Some artists use paint, videos, poetry, performance, installation, photography etc...," he wrote. "For me, my tool is industrial design. I don't have a brush, I have a computer and manufacturers, craftsman, suppliers... At the end of the process, like other artistic disciplines, you end up with a useless object."
Now, you might debate whether the dildomaker is indeed useless -- indeed, its end-product would seem to have a very specific use -- but Morackini doesn't see it as a lasting business or career path. He stated outright that while he would like to create a prototype, and perhaps show it in a museum or gallery, he was not interested in mass producing and selling the dildomaker.
There is still a glimmer of hope, however.
"I can bet you a beer," Morackini concluded, "that if I don't develop the product, anytime soon, someone in Asia will copy it and put it on the market anyway."
Anyone want to bet Morackini a beer?