Velcro, vivid colours, and versatility revel supreme in Ujong Jung’s furniture designs

Traditional furniture has long been achieved via conventional bonding and crafting techniques. In recent years, furniture makers from the world over have nursed a growing propensity towards abandoning said bonding techniques, in favour of innovative ones to conceive their pieces. This shift can be linked to an increased focus on sustainability, flexibility, and a drive for distinctive, modern design aesthetics. The use of modular and interlocking systems, which do away with glue and screws while enabling simple disassembly and reconfiguration of furniture designs, is one noticeable departure from traditional crafting methods. Likewise, artist Ujong Jung experiments with the qualities and potential of Velcro, to strategically fix various furniture parts and craft furniture made of plywood. With his Velcro and wooden product designs, the artist hailing from South Korea expresses a harmonious union of simplicity and intuition through form and materiality, supported by a careful study of production techniques that put ease of assembly and disassembly at the forefront.

Through this, Jung has achieved a variety of distinctive objects that expertly combine design and function, spanning from table designs and chair designs to benches as well as storage units. He does not hold back from embracing and suffusing them with vivid, fun colours, further improving the aesthetic appeal of his works. Making significant statements with their spirited hues, the objects he creates also come alive by perfuming vitality and playfulness to any setting they are added to.

The South Korean artist came across the idea of employing Velcro after a taxing woodworking workshop. “One day, when I was going home after some troublesome woodworking work, I came across Velcro attached to my bag. I thought to myself, 'How comfortable and fun would it be to make furniture using it?' That curiosity then became the genesis for my work now,” Jung shares. Drawing inspiration from common forms and patterns of everyday life, the product designer also puts his idiosyncratic imagination to work.

Describing the source behind his inspiration, he adds, “I like to walk alone. You'll always find me wearing a headset in my ear, and walking down the street, eagerly observing my surroundings. These everyday moments seem to me the most comfortable, giving me time to think a lot. On some days, ordinary red brick houses look remarkably beautiful, and when you are feeling down, you look at the ground consciously and are amused by common patterns that you have inadvertently passed, such as sidewalk blocks on the floor.”

The furniture designer's innovative use of Velcro in his pieces is an intriguing example of how the furniture industry is constantly growing in terms of experimental craftsmanship and creativity. Jung's innovative design illustrates a creative a break from established paradigms, opening up new vistas for artistic and material expression, as well as design practicality. Jung's furniture, a result of a coincidental encounter, offers novel viewpoints on the relationship between usability, adaptability, and aesthetic appeal. In a world where innovation is crucial, artists like Jung not only push the envelope with their practice but also motivate other contemporary designers to embrace the faceted possibilities that lie beyond the constraints of convention.