tokujin yoshioka: 'spectrum'

tokujin yoshioka
portrait © designboom


tokujin yoshioka: spectrum
museum. beyondmuseum, seoul
may 1st to june 30th, 2010

ahead of its public opening, designboom visited japanese designer tokujin yoshioka's
solo exhibition 'spectrum' at museum. beyondmuseum in seoul, korea.


'rainbow church'
image © designboom


one of the newest and much anticipated works of the exhibition is yoshioka's 'rainbow church',
consisting of hundreds of crystal prisms, arranged in a 9-meter-high stained glass installation
which flood the museum space with spectrums of color.

tokujin took some time out from setting up to speak to designboom about the exhibition
obstacles and the installation of 'rainbow church':

'everything was difficult. starting with the selection of the venue... maybe about a year ago
the museum contacted me to ask whether I was interested in presenting the project with them.
I didn't confirm and looked for an alternative venue for 'rainbow church'.  just three months ago
I finalized the proposal.(...) the building has a high ceiling, but to build 'rainbow church',
I had to modify the walls to make the right angle in order to install the prisms. it is 9.2 m high
and 500 crystal prisms are used to create the effect I wanted. we spent a week to build it.' - TY



installation view of rainbow church
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500 crystal prisms were used to construct 'rainbow church'
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up close of crystal prisms
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up close of crystal prisms
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watercolor sketch of 'rainbow church' by tokujin yoshioka
photo by designboom


the exhibition also includes presentations of his 'pane chair', 'honey-pop', 'venus chair'
and 'water block' series. and for the first time in asia tokujin's 'tornado' installation
will be shown for the first time. this presentation of the project will consist of twice
as many straws which were used in the original showcase at design miami 2007.



'rainbow chair'
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'rainbow chair' surrounded by 'tornado' installation
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side view of 'rainbow chair'
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'waterfall' surrounded by 'tornado' installation
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'waterfall', 2005-2006
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'waterfall', 2005-2006
image © designboom


'waterfall was commisioned by a private collector. it has been installed in tokyo since then.
it has never been revealed to the public. the initial idea I had for the project was to
cut the middle part of the waterfall out. I sorted out the material first. the table
is made of a giant optical glass, so it is very special.' -TY



image © designboom




image © designboom




staff assembling the 'tornado' installation
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tokujin directing the set-up of the 'tornado' installation
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general view of the exhibition space under construction
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tokujin converses with two other staff members
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'venus' natural crystal chair ready for installation
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controlling the 'tornado' installation
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installation set-up continues...
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general view
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'pane chair', 2006
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detail
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'honey-pop' chair, 2001
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'honey-pop' chair, side view
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video by designboom