gyuhan lee upcycles mcdonald's paper bags into boxy, nongreasy lamps

Gyuhan lee’s mcdonald’s paper bag lamps

Korean designer Gyuhan Lee flew to Tokyo for a short trip and stayed for a while at Narita International Airport to take a break after the flight. While he wasn’t hungry at the time, the Mcdonald’s branch at the airport caught his attention, but not for its fast-food meals. It’s because of its paper bags. Their easy-to-look-at design and the giant signature ‘M’ of the fast-food chain printed over the brown carton piqued Lee’s interest.

Known for his imaginative creations of recycling daily objects into furniture, the paper bags from Mcdonald’s Japan didn’t escape from creative scrutiny of Lee. He could already picture the kind of sculptures he could produce by using the paper bags. To test his theory, Lee strolled inside the Mcdonald’s at the airport. The staff gave him a bunch of paper bags to take home, and Lee gleefully stashed them in his bag and upcycled them into boxy, nongreasy lamps.

images courtesy of Gyuhan Lee

Gyuhan lee with designboom

Gyuhan Lee tells designboom that part of his inspiration for the upcycled Mcdonald’s paper bag lamps lies in the spike in take-outs and deliveries during the pandemic. ‘During the lockdown period, I noticed how often I would order food to be delivered to my studio, especially McDonald’s. Since I often ate it, I came up with the idea to work with its paper bags,’ he says.

While the series didn’t happen until his stay in Japan, Lee had already brewed the idea in his mind as he was holed up in his studio. ‘With this series, I tried to express my personal taste and my consumerism patterns by using McDonald’s paper bags as my material,’ he adds.

Gyuhan Lee, Tokyo Edition: McDonald’s paper bag lamp 12-1

The simple and efficient design of Lee’s upcycled Mcdonald’s paper bag lamps emits a warm glow, thanks to the paper material that shields the harshness of the light’s intensity. The artist injects four thin pieces of steel as the foundation of the lamps to prop them up and allow the light to burst downwards. The fast-food chain’s logo forms a repetitive pattern across the lamps as Lee retains the materials’ qualities by gluing them together as they are.

He wants to showcase the visible interaction between the business of manufacturing and the art of craftsmanship by instilling his flair for furniture while sustaining the known brand. Lee says that he infused Hanji, a Korean traditional paper, into his lamp sculptures, adding another layer to the shared synergy between the brand and his artistry. Fans of his upcycled Mcdonald’s paper bag lamps are clamoring for his creations, and Lee is yet to update his viewers on whether or not they can purchase the lamps.

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