By: Shonquis Moreno | September 4, 2008
September 16, 2008. Danish company Vipp and supermodel Helena Christensen have rallied a diverse roster of creatives—from rockstars to five-star chefs and, yes, industrial designers too—to customize Vipp’s classic pedal trash bin for a charity auction benefitting the Food Bank For New York City and Chernobyl Children’s Project International. Among the contributors who painted, splashed, jewel-encrusted, doodled on, clad, and prosthetized cans were Jason Miller, Karim Rashid, Dominic Wilcox, Leon Ransmeier and Tomas Gabzdil Libertiny. When the lid of Wilcox’s Xylophone Bin opens, a small metal ball is released to travel down a cascade of wooden steps. Each step elicits a progressively deepening musical note because each is cut in increasing length, creating a soundtrack to accompany rubbish being tossed into the can. The balls also score points as they fall into the receptacle, ranging from ten ("Recycle Superstar!") to two ("Load of Rubbish"). The auction takes place this Thursday night in New York, at Winston Wächter Fine Art Gallery, with starting prices expected to range from $500 to $750, but if you don’t have an invite, there’s still time to preview the goods in person at the Conran Shop. conranusa.com, vipp.dk