Some people just want to watch the world burn. Others would prefer to watch it burn … but in a festive way that also makes some sort of commentary on the consumerist culture of 2017. Lukas and Nikolas Bentel fall into the latter camp. The brothers — Nikolas is an artist and designer in a residency program at the New Museum, and Lukas runs a digital creative studio, Hello Velocity — decided to light some Yeezys on fire, Kanye West’s infamous and pricey sneaker line, à la a Christmas Yule log during a recent trip to visit their parents for the holidays. Consider it a slightly edgier alternative to the Netflix fireplace video that everybody plays in the background at their Christmas parties, because cramming 32 people into a New York apartment isn’t enough to make a room feel hot as hell.
The Bentel brothers wouldn’t tell me exactly what the ratio of real to fake footwear went into the video. “For many, the holidays are all about consumption. This, in someways, is a critique of that consumption, placing that consuming drive straight into this very wholesome holiday tradition,” Lukas said. “You will just have to watch the video to figure out.” “The fake-or-real debate is such a staple of hypebeast culture,” Nikolas added. “I can say that there is at least one [real] pair, but won’t say where, as I’m sure any talk about this will be focused on how fake and/or real every piece is … in the end, I don’t think it matters.” Yeezy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
