by Kyle Stults on June 01, 2011
Flying Panda Bear…
MB&F returns to the ONLY WATCH charity auction in 2011 with another emotionally charged piece – this time in collaboration with a remarkable Chinese artist: Huang Hankang. The MB&F piece for Only Watch 2011 features a miniature flying panda bear “riding” the cosmic HM-4 Thunderbolt watch “a magical synthesis of children’s dreams and cutting-edge haute horlogerie”. As with most MB&F pieces, words can not describe this piece — you just gotta see it. So here it is:
MB&F HM-4 Panda ONLY WATCH 2011
solid gold panda bear with reins made of twisted gossamer filaments made of gold — riding on top of HM4 jet
the entire panda bear module is detachable
MB&F describes this unique piece of performance art as follows:
HM4 Only Watch features the dream-world scenario of a solid gold panda bear riding on top of the HM4 jet, which he controls with reins made of twisted gossamer filaments made of gold. The panda was hand-carved and then cast in 18k white gold using the “lost wax” technique. And while the HM4 Only Watch is a celebration of the fantasy of children’s dreams, there is also a feature for those obliged to ground their feet in reality from time to time: the panda and his reins have been micro-engineered to be completely detachable so that HM4 transforms from a flying machine into a Horological Machine
Wondering how MB&F chief Maximillian Büsser made the connect with Huang Hankang to collaborate on this project? Turns out that it was while visiting an art gallery a few years ago that Maximilian Büsser noticed a painting of a panda flying on a rocket that lifted his spirits so much that he bought it. That painting was by Paris-based Chinese artist, Huang Hankang, and for Only Watch, Huang used HM4 as his canvas to convey a childlike liberation of the spirit.
Huang Hankang “Mission of Peace”
MB&F Collaborator – Chinese Artist Huang Hankang
About Huang Kanang
Born in 1977 in Suzhou, China, Huang Hankang began painting when he was just seven years old. After earning an art degree, he moved to Paris to further his artistic education, learn more about the world outside of China and experience a different culture. His talent was internationally recognised in 2007 with an exhibition in New York and subsequent exhibitions in Europe.
Huang usually paints with watercolours, utilising their nuanced delicacy and light colours to code powerful yet often sublime messages. Huang’s paintings ask the viewer intriguing questions rather than make cut-and-dry statements. These paintings often feature juxtapositions of animals in unusual situations or positions – a panda bear flying a horological spaceship is certainly a consistent expression of his philosophy.
Huang uses art as a method of communication to spread his message to a broader public. The Only Watch project with MB&F provided an unusual horological canvas on which to “paint” his message; however, he jumped at the opportunity upon discovering that MB&F’s Horological Machines are closer to art than to watchmaking and are as much products of Maximilian Büsser’s fertile imagination as Huang’s paintings are to his own imagination.
FLASHBACK: MB&F HM-2 Sage Vaughn edition from “Only Watch” 2009.
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