Shuang Yue & Ikki Mao
Shuang Yue & Ikki Mao are contemporary jewellery artists and object designers living and working in China. Their works are not in line with the needs of the current era and the trend of the social context, just like tiny bugs in a massive and intricate computer system.
If you had access to all the powers, how would you improve the world?
We think that having all the power would be quite terrifying, so we would choose not to use it. We believe that true improvement happens through the small acts in our everyday lives.
What are the biggest sustainability challenges in your work and how are you addressing them?
We avoid using modern, efficient, and convenient methods to combine organic materials with metal. Instead, we challenge ourselves to create using traditional and sustainable techniques.
Which conscious lifestyle choices are you making, and are you considering any new ones?
We use public transportation or non-motorized vehicles for travel. We’re also gradually replacing disposable items with sustainable everyday objects made by our own.
What have you rebelled against in the past, and what are you rebelling against now?
We continue to work intuitively, challenging feelings of inadequacy and alienation in this efficiency-driven capitalist era. We use handicraft techniques to create each piece. Devoting time and effort to making impractical objects is a quiet daily revolt.
Do you need to be a rebel to enjoy your work?
Our works don’t align with current demands or mainstream trends. We hope our pieces serve as rebels, like small errors in a massive computer system.
Do you use your own work?
Yes, we use our prototypes during the working process. By using them, we can better improve materials, techniques, and usability.
Do you think tableware can still be improved? If yes, in what way?
Yes, we’re currently working within our area of expertise, but we hope to learn new techniques in the future to add different expressions to our work. Additionally, people‘s feedback offers new perspectives and ways of using the pieces, helping us create unique works.
What was the inspiration for your Steinbeisser pieces?
In terms of form and mechanical structure, we were inspired by the movement of insects and the dispersal of seeds. We are fascinated by nature’s way of creating. In terms of usage, we think about how to make others use tableware in unconventional ways.
Describe your work in 3 words!
Surrealistic. Active. Origin.
What kind of materials do you use and where do you get them from?
Recycled metal and wood from old furniture, tools, and everyday items, organic materials from shells of dry fruits and seeds. We source them from our families and friends or secondhand markets.
What has been your favorite dining experience?
Having a meal together on the most ordinary day of our lives.
What excites you about tomorrow?
The unknown possibilities. They frighten and excite us at the same time.
What further ambitions do you have?
To create a world of our own. Our work may not be able to change the immense existence we rebel against. For us, to persist in creating and expressing, even when one knows that the situation cannot be changed, is the most powerful thing.