tang chiew ling imagines harmless war with candy + leaves

tang chiew ling imagines harmless war with candy + leaves
all images courtesy of tang chiew ling

combining ordinary objects and simple drawings, malaysian designer tang chiew ling conveys the heavy theme of war with a hopeful and peaceful aesthetic. illustrations of fighter aircrafts, guns, and granades — all typically used for destructive purposes — have been appropriated with humble materials like leaves, candy, and foods to redefine the original context. the series juxtaposes the traditional combat imagery with whimsical ones: a war jet drops dainty petals instead of bombs; coco powder launches out from a tank; a blossoming flower covers the explosive vessel of a hand grenade. the series, ‘harmless war’, proposes these objects in nonviolent circumstances, imagining a pacifist and sympathetic new context for them. 

dropping almonds

a tank shooting out almost decayed leaves

a tank shooting out cocoa powder

spray out leaves instead of tear gas

spray out chocolate candy

a hand grenade made by leaves and flowers

a chocolate doughnut hand grenade

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.