Is Chinese American Designer Tobias&Nbsp? Wong Another Joke With The World?

Gold-plated McDonalds stir bar

After graduating from University of Toronto in Canada, Tobias studied art and architecture at Cooper Union, Manhattan, New York, then turned her interest to sculpture.

In 2000, he obtained a degree certificate in art.

Tobias has always liked it.

In 2001, Tobias attracted the attention of the design community because it converted Philip Stark's (Philippe Starck) famous Bubble Club plastic sofa into an internal luminescent lamp.

And he did a more cunning thing -- the night before Philip Stark's plastic sofa was first exhibited to the public, Tobias opened the first time for his work.

Tobias Wong likes to put humor in his design, and wandering around the edge of traditional design world is his greatest pleasure.

His representative works included 100 pieces of 1 dollar bills glued together to make Notepad; gold-plated McDonalds Stir Sticks (mimicking the original plastic stir bar of McDonald's, which seemed to be popular among drug addicts before being recycled); the diamond engagement ring was dubbed "killer ring", and sharp diamonds could be used for graffiti.

"As time went on, the irony and pertinence of his design became more and more obvious," said Paola Antonelli, senior director of architecture and Design Department of MOMA, New York Museum of modern art. "His design style is full of children's playfulness, which is a fresh air for the New York design community.

Today, you see all kinds of people engaged in conceptual design, and Tobias is the founder of rivers.

In a 2005 exhibition entitled "safety: adventurous design", Ms. Antonelli exhibited two pieces of Tobias: A Rose Brooch and a down garment made of bullet proof Kevlar.

Starting from Tobias's commitment to the design world, he showed his talent to catch the attraction of others. Of course, this attraction is not all positive.

For example, when Tobias used Issey Miyake's Pleats Please series clothing to make a computer screen, the latter decided not to give him orders; the McDonald's designer also suspended cooperation with Lssey Miyake after designing a gilded coffee stir stick.

In fact, coffee bar is only one of the series of products called "Indulgence", and other products include gold-plated Bic brand pen cap and gold-plated "Playboy" cocktail stirrer.

Similarly, when Karim Rashid, the designer of the devil, learned that his book "I Want to Change the World" was cut by a Tobias as a gun and used to express dissatisfaction with the posturing designer, he was not so happy about the evaluation of the world after the 9 / 11 incident.

"I like to use a joke to convey a conceptual thing."

Another notable feature of Tobias is the exhibition curator.

In 2004, at the "5 terminal exhibition" held at Kennedy International Airport, he presented 18 artists' works in a gift shop, including cashmere sleeping mask and designer airsickness bag.

The most expensive exhibition of Tobias should be Wrong Store -- a hoax exhibition organized by Gregory Krum, director of the retail department of Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, in 2007, Hewett.

The store, called Wrong, is located inside the Chelsea gallery and exhibits works from designers and artists from various countries in the US and Europe.

Looking from the outside, it's a real store. Tobias has also installed a business phone and printed special paper and business cards for a group of non - existent department directors.

A discerning person may be able to see something strange, because the slogan written on the window is "please come in, we are closed."

(Come In, We 're Closed.

As a matter of fact, this shop has never been open.

Sometimes, Tobias will also venture to try business design.

He designed a remote light switch installed in artificial resin bottles for sale in major design stores. He also designed paperboard matches for Alessi, which matches the sky line of Manhattan, and two white matches represent the Petronas Twin Towers of the world trade center.

However, in most cases, he prefers dada's interpretation of traditional design items.

"I do not draw up or create templates. If I do not solve the problem, I will certainly not do those designs that make life easier."

In 2008, Tobias told Theme, editor of a design magazine.

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"He used the term" super concept "to describe his work, but to some extent, I think it might be more appropriate to use" super design ". He likes to joke about design history, designer's posture and form process.

Ellen Lupton, curator of the Contemporary Design Institute of Hewett's National Design Museum, is so critical of Tobias.

Today, this playful genius designer has made a big joke with himself and the world.

Why is a successful designer who has a very simple life and a smooth sailing job chooses to commit suicide on the eve of his 36 birthday?