Toys

Shredders

Item 987V: six rapid deployment emergency shredders featuring MicroCut technology and dual feed.

In 2005 ENT International filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 in the US and progressively closed or sold all of its international operations. The quick collapse of the company led to a fire-sale of most of ENT's assets. In the months following the Chapter 11 filing, the liquidation team split the enormous sale across a number of auction dealers.

These are some of the objects1 listed in the the bankruptcy auction held in 2005 at Square Mile Auctions. The small London-based auction house was hired late in the process to deal with low to mid-valued items and leftovers from previous auctions. Among the large number of typical corporate assets, the SMA dealers discovered a few unique items that are now highly valued collectibles.

This unabridged reprint of the SMA auction catalogue from that time2 provides a detailed insight into the inner workings of one of the world's largest corporations. It brings the keen observer one step closer to unravelling the secrets behind one the biggest bankruptcies in recent times.

Square Mile Auctions catalog reprint

Above: Square Mile Auctions' original catalogue from 2005.

Left: Stock performance kinetic picture frame. Lot of 10 picture frames containing a mechanism of 130 threaded steel rods and highly polished steel slits manipulated by the knobs at the bottom of the frame. When adjusted, the slits are meant to illustrate ENT International’s stock performance twice per week over one entire year. The frames are signed and numbered on the back.

Framed Stock Chart Shoe

3 pairs of custom made Salvatore Ferragamo 6cm high heel shoes size 6. Black patent leather, fine stitching details. High-quality clear leather inner lining. Each left shoe features a retractable electronic key device in the heel. Late entry lot, believed to be part of CFO Sherron Tischler’s personal collection. Two pairs present some traces of usage, the remaining five are in pristine condition. Sold as seen, great collectible item(s).

Insider trading device

This lot consists of an off-the-shelf viewfinder, plugged into some sort of digital tuning device with the words FTSE, DAX, HSI, DSM200, PHLX/KBW, MIBTEL, NIKKEI, NYSE, NASDAQ etched on. There is no documentation provided, although it is believed that these devices were secretly owned by a small number of executives and used for monitoring stocks and other financial products too sensitive to be displayed on-screen or retrieved on the company’s computers.

Narcotics vaporizer

Lot of 30 Careco CC600 narcotic vaporisers featuring biometric identification via an integrated IriScan system. The CC600 was produced sparingly and sold to a very limited number of corporate customers. The double nozzle system is automatically sanitized after each use. The chosen narcotic is easily refilled by removing the front panel which is secured by an electronic lock at the bottom of the casing.

Exhibitions

Press

Aknowledgments


  1. All the items pictured on this page are digitally rendered models created for the printed catalog. ↵ back
  2. Any reference to people or companies is purely functional to the narrative of the project and does not represent real events. ↵ back

Everything Is Under Control

Everything Is Under Control

Phytolitography device.

  • LABoral,
  • 2010.
Toys

Toys

Highlights from the 2005 bankruptcy auction of ENT International. A photographic essay.

  • Royal College of Art,
  • 2009.
playgrounds

Playgrounds

An alternative unsettling view of the modern productivity sanctuaries.

  • Royal College of Art,
  • 2009.
The City

The City

Amidst the constant rumbling noise of the HVAC systems, the other nature of corporate spaces is revealed.

  • Royal College of Art,
  • 2008.
playgrounds

Industrial Fragility

Mundane and obsolete household objects are given new importance by slight modifications of their established nature, creating a new loving tension between us and them.

  • Royal College of Art,
  • 2007.
radio

Corley's Radio

Mike Corley is a UK citizen and the author of the website five.org.uk where he keeps detailed stories on what he suspects being a campaign of harassment against him waged by the MI5, the British security service.

  • Royal College of Art,
  • 2007.
nanoPaper

nanoPaper

A paper-like bioengineered scaffold supporting the growth and preservation of skin cells.

  • Royal College of Art,
  • 2008.

Other projects I have worked on.

World Expo Shanghai Pavillion Walkways by Troika

Shanghai Expo - UK Pavillion

UK Pavillion walkways visualisation for Troika

  • Troika,
  • 2010.
Lampshade Robot

Carnivorous Domestic Entertainment Robots

Collaboration with James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau for Material Beliefs

  • Material Beliefs, Auger-Loizeau,
  • 2008.
The Shirt

The MacGuffin Library

3D model for Noam Toran and Onkar Kular's MacGuffin Library.

  • Noam Toran and Onkar Kular,
  • 2009.
Show Artwork

Disruptive Thinking

Award-winning show created for 100% Design 2009, featuring projects from recent graduates of the Royal College of Art

  • 100% Design,
  • 2009.
nok8600

Nokia 8600 "Luna"

  • Nokia Design UK,
  • 2007.
Riquadro

Riquadro

My final BA project, designed and presented in 2004. Shortlisted and exhibited for the INDEX Award in 2005

  • ISIA Roma,
  • 2004.