Tobias Wong In Memoriam

Tobias Wong
1974-2010

Born in Vancouver, Tobias Wong was a New York artist and product design shining star of our time.

He made his fame by taking ordinary items and tweaking them to his understanding.

He pushed us to see a reevaluation of what we thought we know about art and design.

Wong coined his sense of style and art as 'paraconceptual', meaning

to expose the similarities between art and design.

One of his most popular pieces of his time, and one of my favorites: Ballistic Rose, a brooch made out of bullet proof nylon. It's meant to 'protect' the heart in times of conflict.

In 1999 he created a line of unauthorized Burberry buttons and they rose to popularity.In 2000, Burberry quickly caught on and made the buttons part of their 2000 ad campaign. (They also deleted the link to the photo originally posted on this blog.)

In 2001 he took an ordinary Philippe Stark Bubble Club Chair, lit it from within and called it "This is a lamp".

"influenced by dada and, especially, fluxus, he questioned authorship
through appropriation; held a mirror to our desires and absurdities; upended the hierarchy between design and art, and the precious and the banal; and helped redefine collaboration and curation as creative practices."

"Gold Pills" 1998 "So your sh*t will Sparkle".

His reverse "killer" diamond ring and feather lighter were of the many edgy items that epitomized his sense of style.

Only the good die young. His superb achievements and prodigal talents were beyond his time. His legacy will live on and cherished by design enthusiasts, collectors and museums around the world. He will be truly missed and gone too soon.