This $1,250 status trash can is also an avant-garde piece of art

In the vast, ancient world of product design, there’s one 85-year-old classic so iconic that it’s served as a muse for dozens of artists, including Bono, Yoko Ono, Yves Behar, and Damien Hirst. This product has been turned into a car, a robot, and a grill; crushed in a hydraulic press; re-created into a tiny digital image to use instead of the “trash” icon on computer screens; and covered head-to-toe in feathers. In 2009, it became part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. And it was a winner of the prestigious Monocle Design Awards 2023.



It’s a trash can. 



The 1992 iteration [Photo: Vipp]



The Vipp Pedal Bin is a sleek cylindrical design with a foot pedal, side handles, and a retro feel—looking very reminiscent of the 1939 original. Today, Vipp is launching its newest limited-edition version , designed by contemporary artist Alice Ronchi . Her take on the can is inspired by “the fluidity of seaweed” and it incorporates six magnetic forms that attach to the bin’s surface, anywhere you’d like. Vipp produced only 50 iterations of the Ronchi-designed magnetic bins, retailing for $1,250.



[Photo: Vipp]



Originally, the Vipp bin wasn’t meant to be a commercial product, let alone an art object. It was designed in 1939 by Danish metalworker Holger Nielsen as a one-off gift for his wife’s hair salon. But her patrons, many of whom worked in medicine and dentistry, began asking about the bin for their own businesses. Soon, the bin was in high demand.



In 1992, Vipp passed to Nielsen’s daughter, Jette Egelund, and her two children. By that point, the Pedal Bin was a staple in local businesses. But Egelund saw its potential for private homes—and as an example of timeless design. So, she began introducing it to furniture and design shops. Artists were beginning to recognize its potential, too.



“We wanted to open people’s eyes to the idea that this product had qualities going beyond the dentist and the doctor and the hospital,” says Kasper Egelund, Nielsen’s grandson and Vipp’s current CEO. “One way was to collaborate with people who could play with it in a way that [the public] was like, ‘Whoa!’ We have worked with Damien Hirst, the fashion designer Ralph Lauren, Bono, you name it. We wanted to take this unsexy category—trash cans—and open the world’s eyes to it as a fun product.”



[Photo: Vipp]



Artists from around the globe have certainly had fun experimenting with the Pedal Bin’s form . It’s been transformed with almost every imaginable medium, from graffiti to mosaic tiles and shells. But according to Kasper, Ronchi is the first artist to use magnets. Her organic, multicolored shapes are slightly 3D and appear to float on the surface of the bin. Ronchi’s concept is intended to invite users and other artists to embrace a childlike sense of exploration when they construct their final product.



“Throwing something in the bin is often an act of instinct,” Ronchi said in a press release. “I wanted to give extra attention to this very functional everyday object that usually tends to just blend in with its surroundings. By adding tailor-made, carefully created magnets, I wanted people to interact with the bin, making it an equal protagonist of the home, not just something you put in the corner.”