Cooper Hewitt Acquires Major Collection of Work by Groundbreaking Designer Tobias Wong

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum has acquired a major collection of work by the designer Tobias Wong (1974–2010). Often referred to as the “enfant terrible” of the design world, Wong’s influential body of work merged conceptual art, performance and product design. Through a gift of more than 50 objects from Wong’s family, friends and collaborators—including products, prototypes, digital designs and ephemera—the collection provides a new perspective on a critical voice in late 20th- and early 21st-century design. Cooper Hewitt is planning a monographic exhibition dedicated to Wong for late 2027, organized by Alexandra Cunningham Cameron, curator of contemporary design and Hintz Secretarial Scholar.

“Working across disciplines with an emphasis on critique rather than form and function, Wong defines a generation of designers responding to the sociopolitical disillusionment and techno-optimism of their time,” said Maria Nicanor, director of the museum. “His is an essential voice to preserve in the canon of design, as the field considers the broader impact of industry consumption and the implicit role design plays in the creation of our societal value systems.”

“When Tobi moved away to New York in his 20s, I knew he would accomplish great things,” said Phyllis Chan, Wong’s mother. “As a child, he always had a unique perspective on the world, and the way he engaged with everyday objects in his work reflects that. While Vancouver will always be home for Tobi, our family is so happy that his artistic legacy will continue to flourish in a city he loved.”

In the context of the early 2000s and its increasingly commercialized popular culture, Wong often designed objects that both embraced and criticized social behaviors. His irreverent and thought-provoking work addressed a wide range of contemporary issues such as conspicuous consumption and an obsession with luxury goods; a pervasive culture of violence, in particular gun violence; the desire to question authorship and systems of power; and cultural taboos related to health, wellness, addiction and sexuality, as well as the mainstreaming of queer culture.

Wong worked across media—from furniture, jewelry, products, installation and digital projects—to realize his “para-Conceptual” design works. He edited pieces by noted designers, appropriated luxury-brand identities and transformed everyday objects to give them new meaning. Although Wong’s untimely death in 2010 brought an abrupt end to the creation of his provocative work, his legacy continues to influence new generations of designers.

Highlights of the Tobias Wong Collection include: 

• “Ballistic Rose Brooch,” 2004, a black corsage created from ballistic-proof nylon, as a tragic reminder of increasing gun violence in the United States. 
• “Glass Chairs No. 1 and No. 2,” 2002, highlight Wong’s practice of making ‘ready-designed’ objects, his own iteration of Marcel Duchamp’s ‘ready-mades.’ Through key physical and conceptual changes, Wong subverted the recognizable form of Donald Judd’s “Chair 84” (1982), including by augmenting the scale and choosing glass rather than wood as the material.
• Designed to be consumed, “Silver Pill,” 1998, was a playful critique on disposability and decadence. From his time as a student at Cooper Union, Wong parodied the cultural obsession with luxury. 
• “Unauthorized Burberry Buttons,” 1999, featured the brand’s signature plaid applied to basic pinback buttons, making elite fashion accessible to the public. Wong frequently challenged notions of authorship by remixing the work of well-known brands and designers, at times garnering cease-and-desist orders. 
• “Business Card,” 2002, was part of a series of cards through which Wong played with the presentation of his identity. Taking a stencil format, this iteration featured his name, telephone number and newly launched website amid symbols and logos to confuse and complicate the role of the business card.
• In response to the smoking ban inside restaurants and public spaces in New York City, Wong customized a standard mitten for those forced to smoke outside in the cold. “Smoking Mittens,” 2003, feature warm, fireproof material and a metal grommet to hold a cigarette steady between the wearer’s fingers.
• For the “Killer Ring from The Diamond Project,” 2004, Wong reversed the setting on a Tiffany & Co. diamond ring, exposing the stone’s pointed end that would typically face toward the finger. Subverting a classic ring’s associations with romance and beauty, Wong turned jewelry into a weapon, hence the name “killer.” 
• Made in collaboration with CB Cooke, the “I Love You Virus CD-ROM Souvenir,” 2004, reflected on the notorious computer virus that caused billions of dollars of damage worldwide when it emerged in 2000. The virus, which circulated through email, looked like an innocuous text file sent by one of the recipient’s contacts, but infected their computer, overwriting their files with copies of itself. The “CD-ROM Souvenir” contains a text by Cooke and Wong played through interactive software with their own artwork and musical score, as well as a copy of the virus itself.
• Upon the release of the iPad in 2010, Wong and collaborator Chelsea Briganti created a prototype case for the new device in a historical format: a manilla envelope. The “Undercover iPad Case Prototype” was a product caught in a transitional moment in technology as paper was increasingly replaced by digital communication.
• In another ‘ready-design’ work, “Bubu 1er Lamp,” 1996–1998, Wong turned a Philippe Starck stool into a tabletop-lighting device. This example predates his breakout moment in 2001 when one day before the release of Starck’s “Bubble Club Chair,” Wong showed his own version with an inserted lightbulb calling it “This Is a Lamp.”  

About Tobias Wong

Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Wong studied architecture at the University of Toronto and sculpture at Cooper Union where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2000.

Wong used design as a means to impart objects with ideas that were fresh and innovative while disrupting the status quo of the art and design worlds. He described his practice as “para-Conceptual,” suggesting that he went beyond or around an idea before turning to the object. A wide range of proposals emerged from his studio, spanning product, graphic, spatial and digital designs that expanded discourse around the role of design in everyday life and the function of designer as social critic.

Wong collaborated on products and installations with forward-thinking brands including Colette in Paris and Comme des Garçons in Tokyo, as well as on short-term installations with artists and designers in the “Terminal 5” exhibition (2004) and the “Wrong Store” (2007) that experimented with new formats for retail and exhibition display. He worked as a consultant, product developer and design director for Capellini, Cite, Prada, Reflux Editions, Swarovski and Troy in New York.

Wong was named Young Designer of the Year by Wallpaper magazine in 2004 and by the Brooklyn Museum in 2006. His work was exhibited around the world, including at the Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Vancouver, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Cooper Hewitt.

A recent exhibition of his work, “All We Want is More: The Tobias Wong Project,” was on view at the Museum of Vancouver (Nov. 17, 2022–July 23, 2023). Following this exhibition, the Museum of Vancouver collaborated with Wong’s family to increase access to his work in museum collections, including Cooper Hewitt.

About Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Cooper Hewitt is America’s design museum. Inclusive, innovative and experimental, the museum’s dynamic exhibitions, education programs, master’s program, publications and online resources inspire, educate and empower people through design. An integral part of the Smithsonian Institution—the world’s largest museum, education and research complex—Cooper Hewitt is located on New York City’s Museum Mile in the landmarked Carnegie Mansion. Steward of one of the world’s most diverse and comprehensive design collections—over 215,000 objects that range from an ancient Egyptian faience cup dating to about 1100 BC to contemporary 3D-printed objects and digital code—Cooper Hewitt welcomes everyone to discover the importance of design and its power to change the world.

For more information, visit www.cooperhewitt.org or follow @cooperhewitt on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

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