seungtae jang coats plastic chairs with vinyl in his latest wrapping series

plastic new skin wrinkles over mass-produced goods

Following the first part of the ‘WRAPPING Series’, Seungtae Jang’s work ‘Plastic Chair’ explores the hidden value of wrapping and fabricating an irregular wrinkled new shell over existing objects. Using epoxy resin to harden the surfaces and then layering vinyl over mass-produced goods, the artist produces new organic formations.

The hand-molded plastic shell in bright yellow color creases over the smooth machine-made chair and stool, aiming for a ‘collision of commodities and art on the same object’. The experimental series discovers new ways to conform human craft and creative design to the dominant mass production and technological advances, applying minimal and harmless interventions.

all images courtesy of Seungtae Jang

craft-making and machine manufacturing conflate

‘Are two plastic chairs the same?’, asks the artist, Seungtae Jang. ‘As technology advances, the boundaries between art and craft, mass-produced goods, and applied technology, become blurred’. Raising questions about the changes in society and technology, the creative attends to a process of exploration of human craft-making beyond plain manufacturing. For the designer, the differences between industrialized products and hand-made objects cannot be defined due to advanced technology, and distinctness is diminished. The artwork seeks to shed light on these newly occurring matters providing a different perspective on art, craft, and industrial science.

plastic chair and stool wrapped in vinyl

plastic chair’s side view

plastic chair’s wrapping detail