September 27, 2023

OnPerfect

A Home Grown Success

Seungjin Yang is turning balloons into high-quality furniture

Created by Leah Dolan, CNN

Plump, plush and — for want of a greater word — squishy fittings have dominated homes and Instagram feeds alike since the 1970s design and style revival began close to two yrs ago. Vogue anointed puffy home furnishings “2021’s most delightful residence development” last May perhaps, although the New York Periods supplied up the pervasiveness of squidgy couches, chairs and poufs as akin to the pandemic-induced sweatpant craze of 2020. A velvet ’70s armchair by Tobia and Afra Scarpa — “the Soriana” — can established you as considerably back as £6,461 (around $7,800), even though a perfectly rendered doughnut pouf by New Zealand designer Sabine Marcelis fees €1,599 ($1,640).

But whilst Scarpa and Marcelis’ creations inspire a comfortable, sinking, seating practical experience, you will find a person designer turning the bubble pattern on its head. South Korean artist, Seungjin Yang, will make sweet-coloured, bulbous chairs, stools and benches with a twist — his parts are built out of genuine blow-up balloons. Because graduating in 2013 from Hongik University in Seoul, Yang’s key structure endeavor has been fashioning strong, structurally sound household furniture from the rubber party favors.

The chairs are architecturally sound and “are not able to be burst,” Yang claims. Credit: Courtesy Seungjin Yang

Each and every furnishing requires about two weeks to generate, and Yang suggests they “are unable to be burst” many thanks to a special coating of epoxy resin. “My operate is glossy when it truly is finished,” Yang advised CNN over email. “Some persons feel (the concluded products) would not be challenging, but it is tough.”

Balloons are inflated and then molded into various shapes to variety each part of the structure. For instance, a stool has 3 “legs” and a extended balloon is made into a spiral form for the seat. Colored resin is used in layers with additional coats necessary in order to make the sensitive content strong plenty of to have bodyweight. The moment all the elements are dry and good, the furnishings is assembled and dipped into the resin a person ultimate time.

The artist’s striking portfolio — which seems to be like the aftermath of a child’s birthday party at initially glance — has caught the eye of style and design aficionados, some of which have proven at many layout and craft festivals. In 2021, Dior commissioned Yang to reinterpret the style house’s iconic medallion chair for Milan Style 7 days, alongside 16 other artists and designers. “For me, grown ups can nonetheless engage in like little ones,” he said in a movie selling the party.

The artist is now scheduling to exhibit for Design and style Miami this November and hopes to hold a solo clearly show in New York early future 12 months. He is also seeking to push the limits of balloon structure further still with even bigger items down the line, like building a two-human being couch.

See the gallery over for a seem at the artist’s on-likely “Blowing” collection.