POP 221 Friday, 5 February 2010

Todays POP is Becky, writing from Hong Kong in a room with hourly rates.

I got up to so much wild and wonderful in Hong Kong its hard to know where to start. On my first night I attended Supersonic (run by Iain Brand ) http://www.supersonic-hk.com/ where i met some of the city’s coolest movers and shakers. Designers, artists, poets, DJ’s, and a 20 strong Chinese mod squad who all arrived in dramatic succession on their Lambrettas. The monthly night has a special treat lined up for the 6th of March though… Mani from the Stone Roses will be DJ’ing!!!! Dirty ,dark and with lots of boys with good hair…we pulled down the shutters and danced until the morning fish markets opened. It was such a blast to the start of a trip, meeting people and learning all the hidden gems from the locals. That and dancing like i was in a field, alone, naked.

The next day the super friendly Supersonic crowd introduced me to a young woman that they thought i should get to know. Carmen Chan is a name it seems we should all be watching. At 15 years old Carmen is making a limited edition run of her “Horse” table for GOD (Goods Of Desire http://www.god.com.hk/index.php ) which she plans to sell in February of this year. POP thinks she’s ACE. We think you would be mental not to invest. Carmen Chan as the next Marc Newson? Watch this space.

POP: Carmen what’s the name of your table?

Carmen: “horse”, so close to naming it “rider” though. But I thought that that might be too…dirty.

POP: what is it made from? how did you visualise its conception?

Carmen: It is made from laminated plywood and composites. I had a bit of a tunnel effect vision thing when I saw this guy squatting. He wasn’t particularly attractive or anything…but his legs made a really cool shape, with some really sexy curves. And then I sort of mentally copied-and-pasted that shape onto a coffee table.

POP:Tell me about your inspirations for the design of the table?

Carmen: Rocking Horses, Isokon’s loop coffee table, Ray and Charles Eames, and the concept of tension. I got really hooked on the idea of rocking horses and their arches and initially designed a two-legged coffee table. My sketches made the table look possible, while reality did not. Which then resulted in stubbornness and designer’s-block. Which then caused me to wander around the streets sulking. Which then led me to that squatting guy. OH HEY, life worked out alright.

POP: How did GOD find out about the table – did you approach them or the other way round?

Carmen: We approached them via email, just to try our luck… And somehow the founder, Douglas Young [who's brilliant at culture-appropriating-- essentially what GOD is all about!], got his hands on the images of the table and expressed interest. Then one email led to another and we became real tight. No, not really. But hey, he’s letting me sell my table at his store as a commissioned piece!

POP: How many GOD stores are there ?

Carmen: 5. but the world needs more.

POP: What is the best thing about Hong Kong? Are you inspired by your city?

Carmen:Best thing about HK has to be the bizarre [and brave?] names of people: Spinach, Tadpole, Panda, Fish, Acorn, Yoyo and Piano among many. Legend has it there are “adjectives” too…Lovely contrast of old and new, east and west. It is difficult to walk about and not find a little something special about the Chinese neon signs or traditional metal mailboxes or even the humble bamboo scaffoldings!