The 1-800-GET-PINK Chair challenges the perception of materials, industrial design, and even humor, according to designer Joyce Lin.
“The project grew out of a series of chairs about material dissection, where I was reacting to a lot of work coming from other designers and makers using materials like foams and resins to achieve otherworldly shapes,” Joyce says.
From its chunky, bold shape to the shiny metallic shell, the chair has a playful yet strangely uncanny vibe. “I was going for something playful and cartoonish but also somewhat grotesque at the same time,” she says. “I knew I wanted it to be chunky and metallic, contrasted with the amazingly weird texture of the industrial foam.”
Even the name tells a story, alongside color playing a large role in the design. “The name is from the Owens Corning brand of ‘Pink Panther’ insulation foam board that the interior is made of,” she says. “The pink comes straight from the material. Though using a blue foam was also an option, I went with pink because there’s something about the shade that gives it this strange, artificial fleshy vibe.”
At its core, the 1-800-GET-PINK Chair is meant to provoke curiosity. “I want people to have fun with it, but also feel a little weirded out,” Joyce says. “I hope it makes them stop and think about what things are really made of.”
For those who look closely, there are hidden details to discover. “It’s not entirely hidden, but you can see a little bit of the original ‘PINK’ label on the seat. I also made a limited production of a few 1-800-GET-PINK chairs, and the exposed patches of foam are all in different places. Each one is a bit unique.”
A version of this article originally appeared in “Nice Chairs” in Sixtysix Issue 14.
