A friend of mine spotted this Ceci N'est Pas Une Pipe Tee shirt on the street recently, prompting the question: Have you been studying art as closely as you've been studying gaming cheat sheets? The shirt is a homage to surrealist René François Ghislain Magritte's "The Treachery of Images" painting (seen at right), which places the phrase "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" — meaning "This is not a pipe" — next to a pipe. Of course, the painting is not a pipe, but an image of a pipe. And so, witty laughter ensues. How does this artistry translate to modern day? Why a tee shirt replacing the tobacco pipe with a pipe from Nintendo's Mario, naturally. The shirt may never make it to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, but the fact that it manages to pun a lionized surrealist painting surely puts it in the chic category, right?
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Ceci N'est Pas Une Pipe Tee: Geeky or Chic?
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for some reason i actually like this shirt, but i wouldnt wear it
1I'd wear it! Any day
2Awesome.
3If I knew more about the painting then I would rock it.
4I don't quite understand it. Whatev
5I would totally rock this! Who doesn't love some Mario Bros. action?!
6Just ordered one!
7I really like it. It's geeky but subtle at the same time. Really great idea...
8Actually, LACMA's Magritte exhibit also included the work of artists who were inspired by Rene, so I think this would fit!
9Too much thinking involved! lol
10I LOVE THIS SHIRT! If you only knew how many hours I spent during my formative years playing Super Mario Bros. (I played it a few months ago on our old school Nintendo and still remembered all of the secret tricks)!
11Ha ha ha, that's awesome! I wish it weren't green. Off to check out other colors...
12Dern. I tell you, that's the only thing I don't like about Threadless. Sometimes I just don't want the one and only color they've decided to print a design on.
13Mario Bros. and Magritte- what could be better!
14So cool. So very very cool.
It reminds me of the "I am 8 bit" art show. It's an annual art exhibit featuring art inspired by video games.
http://www.iam8bit.net/
15I have this shirt!
16I always get compliments whenever I wear it, usually because of Mario, but rarely because someone recognizes the Magritte reference.
WANT!
17I. Want. This. Shirt.
But unfortunately...i don't think many people would get the reference >___>;;
18I would wear this shirt.
19NAHH.
20I wouldn't have understood the reference if Geeksugar hadn't explained it. Now I feel a lil bit smarter...
21Oh, but I dig the shirt regardless...although more b/c I understand the entire concept, not just the Mario reference.
22love Magritte.
23Love it!
24lol, I totally have this shirt too. I bought it as soon as Threadless released it. Really the only shirt that I HAD to have from Threadless.
25I love that shirt and I also love Magritte and Mario. So it's the best of both worlds.
26By brother has it. It's geeky but clever
27I don't think enough people would get the joke, but I would be laughing to myself about it.
28They're cute. And it takes you a minute to get the joke, but once you do it's really funny!
29i have this shirt - it's pretty sweet
30Only my geeky friends would understand this one. And they have to know french as well. Unfortunately they are few and far between...
31love it!!
32I've been waiting for Threadless to produce this shirt in my size for MONTHS! It's my favorite painting and I love Mario. What more could you want?
33Damn I'm ashamed to say the first thing that popped into my mind is that 'pipe' is the French for 'blowjob'. *blushes*
34I happen to love it!!!! Then again I might be just a liiiiiittle bit biased ;-p
35Post New Comment
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