Discarded Furniture Revived and Transformed into Artworks

Visiting Donuimun Museum Village's 'Upcycling' Furniture Exhibition
Ohouse Collects Damaged Furniture to Collaborate with Artists
Naul's Artwork Made from a Broken Table Included

'Rest of Cycle' by artist Kim Yonghyun

Donuimun Museum Village in Jongno-gu, Seoul, where the entire village is a museum, features a ‘Writer’s Gallery’ where the first thing that catches the eye is a vertically standing bicycle rack. It is useful not only for storing bicycles but also helmets and shoes, and there is a phrase written on the side. This seemingly sophisticated bicycle rack was originally a damaged living room TV cabinet. The attached return sticker remains intact. The furniture filling two rooms, including this rack, was all destined to be discarded. This place, where discarded furniture has been revived, was curated by Bucketplace, the operator of the lifestyle application (app) ‘Today’s House.’

Since the 27th of last month, Bucketplace has been exhibiting ‘upcycled’ furniture made from damaged furniture here. At Today’s House, which purchases and sells furniture, some furniture must be discarded. Reasons vary, such as being returned due to scratches during transportation. Today’s House, considering meaningful ways to reuse furniture that is difficult to refurbish and resell, held the ‘Today’s House Upcycling Hackathon’ last month in collaboration with Decal Cooperative and Elephant Cooperative, groups of artists and creators, and gathered the resulting ‘works’ of furniture at the museum village. Kim Yonghyun, the artist who made the bicycle rack, explained, "The title ‘Rest of Cycle’ carries two meanings: a resting place for bicycles and the cycle of furniture, aiming to remind us of the significance of resource circulation."

Naul's 'LONG PLAY 2'

The LP-shaped frame hanging on the wall next to the bicycle resting place was made by Yunael from a broken table. It features Naul, the singer of the song ‘Already One Year.’ He reassembled stickers attached to LP records he had kept without discarding them to transform the damaged table into an LP. The actual LP shape is preserved, including the hole in the center. Naul said, "It was very rewarding and fun to breathe new life into mass-produced discarded products and create a unique piece of art."

Conversation Play Team's 'Upcycling' Furniture Work 'Moranmorak'

Across the exhibition space is the ‘Whale Dresser.’ It was made from two living room cabinets with wave patterns and a bookshelf. Dolphins and whales are depicted on the front. Next to it is a white dresser with a splendid peony flower in full bloom. It is said that the damaged dresser was painted using folk painting techniques by the art community Hwihayui. The process involved painting peonies on hanji paper, attaching it to the dresser, and finishing with varnish. The ‘Piano Side Table,’ featuring vintage-style piano keys, is also a piece created using folk painting techniques after painting. One artist from the Hwihayui team said, "Usually, we have used limited materials like paper, but through Today’s House’s damaged furniture, we were able to try new approaches."

The furniture on display until the 19th is free for anyone to see. After the exhibition ends, it will be donated to projects for revitalizing abandoned schools, small libraries, and other underdeveloped areas. Park Jimin, director of Elephant Cooperative, said, "Discarded furniture can be reborn as useful new works with just a little interest and regeneration."