Description
THE STORY
THE MOST IMPORTANT POINTS OF MEDITATION ARE COMFORT AND QUIET. HAVING DESIGNED CHAIRS SO FAR, IT WAS A SIMPLE QUESTION OF WHAT ANGLES WERE COMFORTABLE AND WHAT MATERIALS WERE USED TO PROVIDE COMFORT, BUT I HAD A LOT TO THINK ABOUT HOW TO CREATE A QUIET SPACE, OR A SPACE FOR MEDITATION. BEFORE LONG, I SAW A SINGING BOWL, A MEDITATION TOOL. THE SINGING BOWL USED BY TIBETAN MONKS FOR MEDITATION AND CEREMONIES IS A DEVICE THAT INDUCES THE CONCENTRATION OF MEDITATION AS A SOUND BY GIVING A WAVELENGTH TO RUB AND HIT THE SURFACE.
“WOULDN’T IT BE POSSIBLE FOR A PERSON TO MEDITATE PEACEFULLY AND QUIETLY IN A SINGING BOWL LIKE THIS?” HE THOUGHT AND ARRANGED THE DESIGN FRAMEWORK. THE OVERALL SHAPE IS LIKE A LOUNGE CHAIR, WITH THE BACKREST AND SEAT PLATE TILTED AND A LARGE SINGING BOWL WRAPPED BEHIND IT. THE USER WENT DEEPER INTO THE CHAIR AND AT THE SAME TIME SET UP A “QUIET SPACE” BY SEPARATING IT FROM THE NATURAL EXTERNAL SPACE. ALSO, SINCE THE SOUND IN THE LARGE SINGING BOWL IS HEARD LOUDER, THE USER CAN PROCEED WITH MEDITATION WHILE FOCUSING MORE ON THE PERSON’S PULSE AND BREATHING SOUND.
THE SHAPE OF THE CHAIR EXCEPT FOR THE SINGING BOWL IS ROUNDED SO THAT THE SEAT PLATE CAN BE SEATED SOFTLY ALONG THE OUTLINE OF THE HUMAN BODY, AND THE INSIDE OF THE LEGS OF THE CHAIR IS SHAVED SO THAT THE LEGS CAN BE PLACED COMFORTABLY. AS SUCH, THE OVERALL SHAPE HAD AN ORGANIC SHAPE AND EMBODIED AESTHETIC BEAUTY.
INSPIRED BY THE TRADITIONAL TIBETAN SINGING BOWLS, THE GOYO CHAIR IS DESIGNED AS A HUMAN-CENTRIC SINGING BOWL THAT PRODUCES QUIET; HEALING SOUNDS WHEN STRUCK ON ITS METAL SHELL. “ PEOPLE SIT ON SOFAS OR CUSHIONS FOR MEDITATION. BUT A QUIET SPACE FOR MEDITATION IS ALSO IMPORTANT. YOU CAN GO INTO A LARGE SINGING BOWL AND MEDITATE QUIETLY WHILE FEELING THE RESONANCE OF THE SOUND. THIS PROJECT IS A DESIGN OF A MEDITATION CHAIR THAT PROVIDES A QUIET SPACE,”
HOW IT’S MADE
THE ARTIST FASHIONED A MINIMAL, CONTEMPORARY DESIGN OF THE CHAIR USING MAPLE WOOD WHILE BEFITTING THE STRUCTURAL BACKREST WITHIN A COLOSSAL ROUNDED STEEL STRUCTURE RESEMBLING A SINGING BOWL. CONCEPTUALISED AS AN INTIMATE SPACE THAT IS A PERFECT RETREAT FROM THE EVERYDAY STRESS-INDUCING ENVIRONMENT, THE CHAIR IS DESIGNED TO FIT ANY TRENDY RESIDENTIAL OR COMMERCIAL INTERIOR. CHAN ENCOURAGES CONTEMPLATION AND PHYSICAL RESTITUTION BY ENABLING EVERY USER TO LEAN BACK AND UNWIND, JUST AS THE FURNITURE DESIGNED TO BE A HEALING INSTRUMENT EXUDES SINUOUS VIBRATIONS TO SOOTHE THE MIND. THE DESIGN ELEVATES THE SIGNIFICANTLY SMALLER SINGING BOWLS BY USING ORGANIC WOOD AND STEEL TO CARVE AN EXPERIENCE.
DIMENSIONS
L 140 cm / W 105 cm / H 155 cm
MATERIALS
MAPLE, STEEL
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Korean furniture artist Lee Yechan (1998) majored in furniture design at Gongju National University and is currently producing unique sculptural furniture pieces, with a distinguished plastic concept hidden in their form. The artist is working on sculptures that can stimulate the user’s senses and convey discriminatory senses, allowing them to take the time of slowly and silent thinking – meditation.
The artist is exploring various formations found in nature, and deliberately reveals contradictions between them and their made materials. Often playing with the sensations of balance and instability, sometimes mimicking the fragile positions of stones stack on top of each other. In some Asian cultures, it represents a sign of good fortune and balancing out conflicting energies.
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