Branching out in Korea .... becoming bookshelfs ....treemendous!

Tree bookshelf from Design artist Shawn Soh ...becomes a book becomes a tree...

From the Shawn Soh Design art web pages...

I remember

That I folded narrow and long paper

And stuck it between the branches of a tree

That memory

Led me to embrace a tree

The tree with books forever chatters

Before I knew it, the books became the tree

In full blossom with sprouting leaves

The artist’s poem describes the background and concept of the design - a marketable, functional and artistic product whose design direction is clearly portrayed in the title: ‘A tree becomes a book becomes a tree’

'A bookshelf in home no longer has to be just a rectangular piece of furniture; it can now be a piece of art in its own right. This concept was inspired from Designartist Shawn’s early memories of sticking letters on tree branches. Introducing the “Tree Bookshelf”, a tree-themed bookshelf which changes form dynamically as books are stacked up and removed from the tree branches. Books become flowers of the tree, and indeed part of the artwork itself in its day-to-day use.

The design direction is clearly portrayed in the title ‘A tree becomes a book becomes a tree’; the design aims to create not only a marketable and functional product, but also an artistic work. Each product comes with a poem describing the background and concept of the design.

Every product is produced exclusively in the designers own studio. The Tree bookshelf takes one week to produce; every single process (welding and bending etc) is done by hand. Shawn takes pride in the fact that each product is handmade.'

More contemporary furniture and design at http://www.kevinhallsworth.co.uk/ the website of Kevin Hallsworth designer and maker of contemporary bespoke furniture and creator of the Industryindesign collection.