Bob Basset

Serhii Petrov (; born 1976, Kharkiv, Ukraine), known professionally as Bob Basset, is a Ukrainian artist and a co-founder of an art studio under the same name.

The studio creates wearable art pieces such as masks, bags, clutches, bracelets, cases, and more in the techno-romanticism genre. Artist works primarily with leather, metal, stone, wood, bone, ceramic, and glass. Over the years, leather masks have become his main object of artistic practice, and they have been used in a variety of arenas. Bob Basset items have been exhibited all over the world, often as main attributes at Fashion Week shows and at exhibitions and projects, including the International Museum Day. Collectors from different countries often buy Bob Basset masks for their private collections.

The studio was co-founded in 1989 by Serhii Petrov and his brother, Oleg, in Kharkiv, Ukraine. After Oleg's death in 2011, Serhii Petrov became the face, main artist, and manager of the brand.

In 2016, Bob Basset was included in a list of nine revolutionary Ukrainian designers. The studio's items were highly appraised by the founder of the steampunk style, William Gibson, filmmaker and artist David Lynch, and post-cyberpunk and science fiction author Cory Doctorow. Bob Basset created masks and other items for the Givenchy brand and stylists Panos Yiapanis and Riccardo Tisci. The studio also worked with the Ukrainian brands sasha.kanevski and L'UVE (partnering with the designer Valeria Kovalska). A mask from the Bob Basset collection "Mashrabiya" was used in Hollywood actress Elizabeth Banks' photo shoot. A number of Bob Basset masks were created for a movie produced by Ridley Scott Associates (RSA Films) and Michael Bay, for the movie '' Metallica: Through the Never'', and were used to promote the American TV show '' The Last Ship''. Bob Basset masks were used in a number of music videos for bands and artists. From 2013, Bob Basset creates masks for Sid Wilson from the music band Slipknot; the studio also worked with Metallica, Korn, Avril Lavigne, Otep, Tantric, Zayn, British DJ Jungleboi, Dutch DJ R3hab, Beissoul & Einius, Ghost. Bob Basset created gaming design pieces for the international company Plarium, and a mask for the Iron Custom Motorcycles speed record project.

Bob Basset have appeared in the media ''Vogue International'' (USA), The New York Times (USA), '' The New York Times Fashion Magazine'' (USA), ''Flaunt'' (USA), ''WAD'' (France), ''Vice U.K.'' (UK), '' Bizarre'' (UK), ''INSIDE Artzine'' (Germany), ''Trendson magazine'' (Hong-Kong), ''Dazed'' (UK), ''METCHA'', Wired Italia (Italy), and others.

Bob Basset also created personal collections: "Mashrabiya" (2014), "Survivors" (2015), "Calvary" (or "Golgotha") (2016), and "Turnskin" (2019).

Art

Style, working process and materials

Techno-romanticism

From the start, Bob Basset creations were seen as steampunk in style, and later he was referred to as a "steampunk guru." However, the Petrov brothers considered themselves the founders of their own style: "techno-romanticism."

Over the years, Bob Basset became known as "techno-romanticism pioneer." Serhii Petrov often describes his studio pieces as "real objects from unreal worlds."

Techno-romanticism doesn't have straightforward rules, so the artist is free to mix different styles, items, and materials. The style involves idealization of the technology and mechanics and romanticization of the creative process and its result.

Working process and team growth

Petrov considers everything around him an inspiration for his work, from human emotions to objects and nature. He is passionate about experimenting with technology and seeking new skills. He doesn't draw primary sketches, but starts to make an object at once after working with the material and understanding its qualities, because of his belief that "a tool has a great influence on the result."

The manufacture of one mask can take from ten hours to a year. To create a mask not only esthetically pleasing but also comfortable to wear, Petrov thinks through the ventilation system and sometimes arranges trials to see how long a person can wear it easily.

The studio has a team of four to six assistant designers, but the number of people involved on a certain project depends on the task. In general, Serhii doesn't let outsiders visit his workshop.

Materials

Bob Basset's primary material is leather. He also uses metal, stone, wood, bone, ceramic, and glass. The artist's main criteria for leather is that it has an "ethical origin" and is "a product of animal husbandry," not only because all the workshop processes depend on the quality of material, but to show his respect towards the material. The studio uses leather from many countries, including from Ukraine, Belarus, Italy, and Africa.

File:Bob Basset's mask - Gogolfest 4.jpg, Bob Basset presenting his mask at the art-performance "Behind the Mask", Gogolfest, 2015
File:Bob Basset's mask - Gogolfest 2.jpg, Bob Basset leather mask at the art-performance "Behind the Mask", Gogolfest, 2015
File:Bob Basset's mask - Gogolfest 3.jpg, Bob Basset leather mask at the art-performance "Behind the Mask", Gogolfest, 2015
File:Bob Basset's mask - Gogolfest.jpg, Bob Basset leather mask at the art-performance "Behind the Mask", Gogolfest, 2015

Objects d'art

Masks

Masks have become Bob Basset's specialty. He makes unique leather masks for use in a number of different fields such as fashion, music, cinema, and so on.

The studio has more than a thousand masks in its portfolio, including masks representing demons, zombies, unicorns, aliens, various animals, and dragons. Bob Basset created a number of different skull and horse masks, as well as a mask with horns that look like claws. Some of the Bob Basset masks are his famous masks for Sid Wilson, the Plague Doctor mask, the Cthulhu mask, the David Michelangelo mask, a mask that looks like Darth Vader’s helmet, and an Orthodox Van Helsing (which has a speaker to scare away demons). All of the Bob Basset masks have a complicated structure; some of them have built-in cooling systems, 3D-glasses, and lasers.

Bob Basset has made masks for bikers, a motorcycle helmet for a private collection, and a biker's mask for the Iron Custom Motorcycles speed record project Inspirium.

Dragons

Co-founder, Oleg Petrov, has been fascinated by dragons since childhood, so dragons became one of the main subjects manufactured by the Bob Basset studio. A number of dragon pieces were created throughout the years, including bags, helmets, toys, masks, and costumes.

In 2006, the studio presented the Dragon Backpack, which became famous on the internet. As of 2018, twelve years after the first presentation, the backpack remains still popular among leather-item lovers. In 2015, the news about Bob Basset's Dragon Backpack replica was reposted nearly 100 000 times and liked around 44 000 times on Facebook.

Eventually, the original backpack was sold to a private collection and Bob Basset created a replica that also received wide discussion.

Other items

Over the years, the Bob Basset studio produced a collection of "strange artwork" for example, a device that helps one to connect with aliens, a system of hiding places for one's house, and a turtle which served as a knife container. At some point, the studio created sapphire knives and leather wings with a wingspan of four meters.

In 2011, the studio created leather Christmas tree decorations in steampunk style.

File:Bob Basset's Dragon Backpack.jpg, Bob Basset's Dragon Backpack.
File:Bob Basset's Dragon Backpack 2.jpg, Man wearing Bob Basset's Dragon Backpack.
File:Bob Basset - Exhibition "Objects" 5.jpg, Bob Basset's steampunk dog.

History

Oleg's influence

The Bob Basset brand was founded in 1989 as a leather workshop in Kharkiv, Ukraine by brothers Oleg and Serhii Petrov. The studio was named after Oleg Petrov's dog, a basset hound named Bob.

Before "Bob Basset" was used as the studio name, it was a nickname for older Oleg. Oleg, whose first specialty was metallurgy, started to work with leather as a teenager. The book ''Two Little Savages,'' by Ernest Thompson Seton, inspired him to work with leather, and he started to sew Indian clothes at about twelve years old. He made his first leather boots at the age of fourteen. In adulthood, Oleg continued to make his own footwear, and became interested in creating leather accessories, including women's hand-bags. By the time he helped found Bob Basset, he had worked with leather for twenty years, learning the craft from old books on leather, chemistry, and technology.

The workshop officially became the Bob Basset art studio in the 2000s. From the beginning, Oleg was the lead founder. He wanted the studio to create items that "have never been made before." To ensure his creations were unique and came solely from his imagination, he lived in isolation from art books, television, blogs, and even people.

Early history: the first decade

In 1988, when the celebration of Halloween was just becoming common in Soviet Union through American movies, the Petrov brothers created around ten carnival masks, which they later sold. In 1989, the workshop turned its attention to work on leather accessories.

At first, the Petrov brothers didn't have enough money to afford materials, but they kept working to achieve their "ambitious goals." By 2001, with initial capital of $50, the workshop started to make leather items for Ukrainian sex shops. The internet was young at the time, so the brothers had to promote their products in person. Serhii Petrov travelled all around Ukraine to promote and deliver their leather creations. The studio was then the only local leather-item manufacturers that supplied sex shops.

Eventually, the Ukrainian media became interested in Bob Basset products, but Oleg Petrov felt that working in the sex industry was "not the best way to achieve immortality," so he started to sell products on eBay instead of proceeding as a supplier.

The eBay shop attracted an audience, and the brothers started to work on commission. Later, Bob Basset products were also available for purchase on Makers Market, another online handcraft marketplace. In 2006, the brothers displayed their creations to the public on a Bob Basset account on LiveJournal, a global blogging platform.

In April 2007, Bob Basset presented the Cthulhu mask.

With the growing popularity on the internet, Bob Basset started gaining fans and clients. By 2008, the studio started to be recognized internationally with a number of articles and mentions of their work in magazines and online.

In 2009, Bob Basset presented the leather Paw Shoes and "lace-up, claw-bearing" mittens. Photos of the Bob Basset Paw Shoes were published in ''The New York Times Magazine''.

In 2009, the studio made seven or eight masks for the Carl Erik Rinsch short movie called ''The Gift'', which was part of a collaboration of five filmmakers named Parallel Lines and presented by the Ridley Scott Associates production company (RSA Films). However, only four of the masks were eventually used in the project.

History: the second decade

Serhii's leadership

Oleg Petrov died in 2011, and his younger brother Serhii continued the business alone. Twelve years younger than his brother, Serhii also chose the manufacture of leather items as his main occupation. In the 1990s, he tried a number of other jobs, including establishing businesses and working in promotion. His work on Bob Basset goods became a "hobby," but later he returned to the art studio full-time.

After his brother's death, Serhii Petrov intended to produce all the artwork himself. He refused to leave the original Bob Basset workshop, which was located in the garage of a private house on the outskirts of Kharkiv. Serhii became the face of the brand and the main artist behind it. He ran the business, controlled the manufacture process, produced ideas, and managed staff.

Serhii Petrov considers himself to be the founder of the original concept of the steampunk gas mask. When the brothers started to list their creations on eBay, there were around 700 items under the term "steampunk." Bob Basset successfully distanced their inventory from these items by pioneering “steampunk gas mask” term.

Global recognition

In autumn 2010, Vogue Hommes published a ten-page photo shoot with models styled by Panos Yiapanis. Bob Basset leather masks were worn by every model, complementing outfits provided by fashion brands Yves Saint Laurent, Givenchy, Prada, Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, and others.

In 2010, Italian clothing designer Riccardo Tisci ordered Bob Basset masks for the 2011 Givenchy Spring-Summer Men's Collection fashion show. To make the seven masks in time, the studio worked around the clock for four days.

The collection, with Bob Basset leather masks as the main accessory, was presented at the Paris Fashion Week. Later, the masks were used at a photo shoot for Givenchy promotion posters and were displayed in Givenchy boutique showcases.

After the partnership with Givenchy, Bob Basset became recognized all around the world. Only after becoming popular abroad, did the studio gain recognition on the same level in its native country, Ukraine.

Further partnerships

In 2012, Bob Basset partnered on projects with two Ukrainian brands: sasha.kanevski and L'UVE (partnering with the designer Valeria Kovalska).

In 2017, Bob Basset masks were used in a fashion show by the Italian brand Balossa. The collection was presented at the Lviv Fashion Week 2017, and all the models' looks were complemented with Bob Basset masks and accessories. A year later, Bob Basset provided masks for the shoe brand Ganor Dominic's photo shoot.

Bob Basset worked on a gaming design for the international company Plarium, which has an office in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

History: the third decade

Bob Basset art studio during the Russian invasion

At the beginning of the Russian invasion, Serhii Petrov was forced to evacuate from Kharkiv to Lviv with a minimal amount of tools and equipment. According to him, the Kharkiv workshop was not damaged by shelling, but it is dangerous to work in a city that is shelled almost every day. In Lviv, he created a workshop, continues to make masks and helps the army - he collects money for gas masks, established the production of body armor. "There is no place in the world where it would be as good for me to live and work as in Kharkiv. I will definitely return to Kharkiv", says Petrov.

Bob Basset provided art objects as lots for two auctions of war trophies and art "History in Objects", which took place in the Lviv Municipal Art Center in the summer of 2022. One of the objects was sold for ₴55,000 (USD 1900 approx.) at the starting price ₴29,542, becoming the most expensive lot of the first auction. In total, ₴205,510 was collected at the auction. The funds were directed to the UAID charity fund for the purchase of needed items for the front line.

During the war, Serhiy Petrov began to use spent bullet cartridges from the battlefield as elements of masks. "Each piece has a story. Maybe it was someone's last bullet", said Petrov during an interview for the New York Times.

In 2022, Serhiy Petrov was included in the anthology of modern Ukrainian visual art "Unknown Art. Artistic reflections. Ukraine after 2013" by Olesya Gerashchenko (Shambur), published by “Osnovy” publishing house. The collection with 100 reproductions and 50 interviews with artists, art critics and curators included "Maidan Mask", created by the studio in 2013.

The Art Studio and Serhii Petrov became one of the heroes of David Gutnik's documentary film "Rule of Two Walls", which examines the war in Ukraine through the prism of the vision of artists who live and create during hostilities. The image of Serhii Petrov became the official poster of the film. The world premiere took place in June 2023 at the Tribeca Festival, where the film received special jury mention for human rights and artistic expression. The film became a participant of the international and national competitions at the XIV Odessa International Film Festival and received the Special Award of the International Competition.

In September, the art studio presented its new work in collaboration: a black leather mask in the shape of a skull, decorated with silver details of the Kyiv brand Sania.Jeweler.

In September 2024, Bob Basset's works were selected to participate in the Homo Faber Biennale of Contemporary Crafts in Venice. However, not all works were delivered for the exhibition: one of the masks of the art studio uses firearm cartridges, which caused questions at customs.

= Gas masks for Ukraine

=
At the beginning of March, a philanthropic initiative called "Gas Masks For Ukraine" was instigated by Bob Bassett and Kirill Kislyakov. The core objective of this project was to amass funds to procure gas masks for Ukrainians. This was a response to the imminent threat of potential chemical warfare in densely populated areas during that period. Andrii Hubskyi, a Ukrainian researcher who developed the platform that facilitated the draw, provided the raffle assistance. The lottery officially commenced on April 12, with each ticket being priced at 30 euros. By April 24, the initiative had sold 50% of the tickets. By May 3, all available tickets were sold, demonstrating high public interest and support. The winning ticket was revealed in a live announcement on May 4. Finally, the proceeds from the lottery were utilized to purchase gas masks, with the first batch of purchases completed on June 16. According to Serhii Petrov, the gas masks were sent to the Kherson area and to Kharkiv region for the National Guard.

= Mask for a Hero

=

Bob Basset made a mask for famous Ukrainian lawyer and serviceman Masi Nayem, who lost an eye at the war. The mask "protects part of the face and the eye... it is fastened on two straps and does not interfere with movement". According to Serhii Petrov, this project is also important for him for personal reasons: he himself has eye problems and has been ashamed of his strabismus for years, and used to make a similar mask for himself. Later, Serhii Petrov promised to make several similar masks for other defenders of Ukraine who lost an eye in the battle. Subsequently, the project was named "Mask for a Hero" and supported by the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen in Vienna within the Institute's Documenting Ukraine program. The next owner of the eye mask was a Ukrainian soldier, a fighter of the Azov regiment, with the call sign Krishna, who was wounded in Mariupol.

Controversies

In 2012, Bob Basset's steampunk gas mask was plagiarized by the company Design Toscano, which put their version up for sale on eBay as an originally designed product. Later, Design Toscano apologized, blaming a designer who stole the idea. Eventually, Bob Basset received a royalties for the design.

Arenas of success

Despite the fact that Bob Basset masks and items are often used in various industries, Petrov himself perceives his work and items as art, rather than fashion accessories.

Recognition

In 2016, ''Vogue International'' listed Bob Basset as one of nine revolutionary Ukrainian designers. The studio's art was published in the magazines ''Vogue International'', '' The New York Times Fashion Magazine'', ''WAD'', ''Vice U.K.'', '' Bizarre'', ''METCHA'', ''L'Uomo Vogue'', ''INSIDE Artzine'', ''Trendson'', and others.

William Gibson, who is credited as the founder of the steampunk style, declared Bob Basset's products "almost the only existing model of the genre." After receiving Gibson's endorsement, people started to refer to Bob Basset as the "guru of the contemporary steampunk."

The studio once ran a private exhibition for filmmaker and artist David Lynch when he visited Kyiv, Ukraine. Lynch greatly appreciated the exhibition.

Another Bob Basset customer is Cory Doctorow, the post-cyberpunk and science fiction author and a co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. A number of Bob Basset pieces are owned by Garick Karogodskiy, a businessman, writer, and blogger from Kyiv, and Evgeny Chichvarkin, a Russian businessman and entrepreneur.

Bob Basset masks are often bought for the international and Ukrainian private collections. As of 2017, the biggest Ukrainian Bob Basset collection, containing 22 masks, belonged to Kiyv restaurateur, Dmitry Borisov.

A number of masks belong to an international collection of Richard Neufeld (a coordinator of design and visual art program in Canadian Cambrian College), and in 2018 were provided by the owner for the ''Curious Couture: Fab Fashions & Personal Collections'' exhibition in Sudbury, Canada.

Fashion shows and collections

In 2013, Bob Basset masks were presented at the Berlin Fashion Week show in partnership with Ukrainian brand sasha.kanevski.

In 2014, Bob Basset presented a new collection of masks and accessories called "Mashrabiya" during the Ukrainian Fashion Week. The main element of the collection was a pattern from traditional Arabic architecture. Beside masks, the collection included leather accessories such as bags, clutches, bracelets, and iPad cases.

The next year, a new Bob Basset mask collection named "ΣΑΛΩΜΗΣ" was presented at the Ukrainian Fashion Week 2015. The collection consisted of five items that could be used as both masks and handbags.

In 2015–2016, Bob Basset created ironic collections of masks for eggs. A 2015 collection, named "Survivors" portrayed eggs that survived Easter wearing mini-versions of masks created in previous years. The 2016 egg-mask collection, named "Calvary" (or Golgotha), consisted of mini-versions of other Bob Basset masks meaningful to the creator, and portrayed the participants of an " evangelical crucifixion." In 2019, as the World Record Egg became popular around the world, Bob Basset's egg exposition gained new meaning.

In 2017, Bob Basset masks were exhibited in the Italian clothing brand Balossa's collection at the Lviv Fashion Week fashion show.

In 2019, Bob Basset presented his new collection "Turnskin."

Special projects

Bob Basset created a mask for a bull terrier dog once, but later gave up on the idea, seeing it as animal abuse. Later the idea was re-imagined into a leather steampunk dog, which was a popular item in many exhibitions. Serhii Petrov cherished it as a piece of art and as a memory, for it was based on a real-life dog, which Serhii's family rescued from the street.

In 2016, Bob Basset created a biker's mask for an Iron Custom Motorcycles speed record motorcycle project called Inspirium.

During the Ukrainian revolution of 2013–2014, Serhii Petrov took part in several pro-Ukrainian protests in Kharkiv. These events influenced both his politics and his art. "Before 2014 I did not give any importance to my origins: nothing, in my art, spoke of Ukraine. At the time I just wanted to be an artist of the world. After that year, being Ukrainian took on a completely different weight. My national identity has started to make itself felt more and more, even if what I do continues to have a global character" says Petrov. At the end of 2013, Bob Basset presented the Mask of Maidan, which looks like a baton smashing the face of its wearer. The photo of the mask was published in ''Dazed'' magazine.

The Mask of Maidan became a symbol of political repressions in Ukraine. It was dedicated to the media representatives who worked in war zones and suffered injuries there. In 2014, the mask was auctioned on eBay, and the studio donated all of the profit to Hromadske.TV

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