tsai yi cheng: victoria in supermarket

‘victoria in supermarket’

taiwan is a country in which new things are easily accepted and people learn everything at a rapid rate, hence the amount of ‘fusion’ evident within design emerging from the asian country. taiwanese designer tsai yi-cheng has created ‘victoria in supermarket’, a collection of furniture objects which includes a stool and a floor lamp which draws on this notion of fusion. the pieces at first appear like traditional victorian furniture, however, upon closer inspection, one makes out the forms which are made by common bottles that can be bought in the supermarket.

bottle detail of floor lamp

using silicon and concrete molding, yi-cheng casts the bottles to create spindles which act as legs for the stool and a stand for the lamp. every item from ‘victoria in supermarket’ is popular amongst blue-collar workers, such as medicine wine, kaoliang liquor, energy drinks, coffee etc… these low-price and barbarous drink vessels are meant to be a contrast to the high-class victorian style, while at the same time, expressing how european culture has influenced the taiwanese.

stool

stool leg bottle detail

drink bottles were cast to create the supporting forms