"Stellar" by Tokujin Yoshioka
design , feature
Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka has completed "Stellar" for Swarovski Crystal Palace.
The following is a text of interview to Tokujin Yoshioka.
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Can you explain the concept behind your design and the inspiration for the idea
"Stellar" is a project, which is to create an artificial star with swarovski crystal, based on the beauty born of coincidence during the formation process of natural crystal. It coruscates strong luminous rays.
In 2008, I designed a chair entitled "VENUS - Natural crystal chair."
This VENUS obtains a structure by having tiny natural crystals grow in an aquarium and makes its appearance with time as if Venus gradually emerges from water.
This time, in collaboration with Swarovski Crystal Palace, I will present a chandelier entitled "Stellar," which gives a dazzling light to the space.
Just like the Venus, I let the tiny crystal grow and create a spherical formed crystal in the early stage of the "Stellar." And I tried to express, through Swarovski crystal, the beauty, fortuity, and breathtaking figure coming out from the growing process of the natural crystal.
What are the challenges of working with crystal?
This project is not a mere attempt to design another new chandelier with crystal components. Extracting the property and the attractive feature of two materials of crystal and light to a maximum extent, I challenged to reinterpret the brilliance of the real star of tens of thousands light years away and to create an evocative work, which will shines one's heart. We have enhanced the degree of completion by conducting verification experiments for selection of crystal, collocation method, expression of brilliance and so forth.
How does this project differ from previous collaborations you have had with Swarovski?
In 2005, I designed a futuristic chandelier entitled "Stardust", which expressed a scene where moving images being projected onto the dark night sky by an infinite particle of lights. Three years later, in 2008, I designed a stool "Eternal". For this work, I had an image of bringing down the star cluster and its brilliant beauty from the sky and sealing them eternally in the transparent lump.
And in 2010, I will try to express the new interpretation through "Stellar."
What appeals to you about working with Swarovski and their crystal?
It is always a great pleasure to work with Swarovski. I gain stimulating and interesting experience in collaboration with them. They have a long history and tradition but always try something new. I am also drawn to the beauty, transparency, and poetry of crystals. Crystal is transparent but it catches light and brilliance.
This year, you are going to present new works from Kartell, Swarovski Crystal Palace, and Moroso.
Are there anything in common?
We are living in the age when design overflows. In such age, I pondered on expressing something that does not have form or design. In other words, it is something that transcends the general idea on form and design, and provokes our emotion.
It is not to deal with forms or to make minimal forms, but to design that gets us into the work, lifts up our spirits. I would like to design something that moves even myself.
Recent years, I am challenging to incorporate formless elements that appeal to our heart such as new idea, color, scent, and to design an emotion itself.
One of them is a phenomena called "light", another one is something that you cannot see, and the other one is something that has unlimited forms by transforming its appearance.
This year at Salone del Mobile, I will present works that do not obtain forms, while each work has unique characteristics.
Please tell us about the process.
A half of the production of the work is guided by myself, and the other half is made by Mother Nature.
We put a block of soft polyester fiber in a huge aquarium with a solution, where special mineral is melted in. On the polyester fiber, natural crystal begins to form its structure and continues a gradual grow until it is completed.
This unpredictable element makes me feel the serendipitous beauty in nature.
It takes approximately 1 month to complete the work.
What is the material?
Natural crystals, which contain some kind of mineral.
And soft fiber structure is used as a base of the chair.
Please let us know about your future project.
From May 1st, there will be 2 important projects.
One is my solo exhibition held in Seoul, Kore. And the other one is the Shanghai Expo held in Shanghai, China.
At the exhibition entitled "Tokujin Yoshioka_Spectrum", which will be held in Seoul, I will present a part of my dream architecture project "Rainbow Church."
The idea of this architecture project "Rainbow Church" dates back to when I wan in early 20s.
I visited the Chepelle du Rosaire, which Henri Matisse, a French painter, created in his last years, located in Vence, a commune located near Nice, France. I was engrossed in the beauty of the light that the chapel created.
I experienced a space filled with the light of Matisse: Being bathed in the sunlight of the Provence, the stained glass with Metisse's vibrant colors suffused the room with full of colors.
Since then, I had been dreaming of designing an architecture where people can feel the light with all senses
A 9-meter-high stained glass that symbolizes the architecture is made with 500 crystal prisms will be filling the space with rainbow colors as the light shines on it.
At the Shanghai Expo, I will present a natural crystal work "growing crystal," which has a diameter of 3 meters.
In a huge water aquarium, growing natural crystals gives us an image of the birth of a new life, and it impresses us with its beautiful appearance born out of the coincidence.
Duration・Location
14-19 April, 2010
via Tortona 32, Milano
