RoomHop: Dried Fruit and Styrofoam
tips@bwog.net with a picture.”>
RoomHop is back, this time with a DIY/modern art/bricolage special from Watt, courtesy of Carolyn Ruvkun. If your room needs Hopping, contact us at tips@bwog.net with a picture.
“I imagine my room to be a giant junkyard, but not so dirty,” says Patrick Han of the Watt double he shares with Shao-Wen Ang. The “garbage aesthetic,” as Shao-Wen calls it, starts at their front door plastered with an original art piece. “We broke some pens and splattered the ink, then stuck a blunt knife through an orange.”
The interior, too, makes creative use of dried fruit. While most people throw away Clementine peels and old tea bags, Patrick and Shao-Wen choose to feature them. They unhinged their window guards and weaved fruit peels, playbills, and photos through the diamond slits. “The window covering is a useful way to hold things,” says Patrick.
Patrick sleeps under a canopy of colorful tea bags, citing their aromatic qualities. Though he regrets that they “eventually run out of the smell.”
The pair’s walls are covered with Shao-Wen’s photos, surrealist Magritte posters, and Styrofoam squares the two painted. “The people next door were having an event in Lerner and we got the leftover Styrofoam squares from their set,” Patrick explains. Scattered along the walls and ceiling, the painted squares resemble scraps of stained glass or colorful tiles. Shao-Wen points out that some of the squares “have little stories behind them,” like a dog in the sunset or a starburst.
The only blank wall in their room is reserved for movie screenings, though they plan to cover the corner of their screening wall with more of Magritte’s art.
Patrick says his favorite thing “would have to be the statue of Mao,” which he outfitted in a champagne cork covering and a hat flourished with a flower and little comb. Like everything else in the room, the statue “has sort of evolved” over the year.
And the recorder on the table in the center of the room? “It’s just for keeping track of the day,” explained Patrick. “Because sometimes you don’t remember everything from during the day. Then you record the small things and can capture all those lost moments and fit them into your life, like pieces of a puzzle. It’s like a diary without having to write.” Perhaps the same motivation to record little moments applies to the pair’s eclectic brand of interior decoration. Just as the pair accumulates random tchotchkes for their eclectic space, Patrick gathers various conversations on his recorder.
“It’s a little creepy, actually,” Shao-wen admits.
Tags: fine art, roomhop, tea
9 February 2010 @ 12:00 PM · 26 comments
on 
as a frequent visitor of this room I’d like to point out that actually Patrick is the photographer not Shao.
is weird and gross.
trash is trash, not art.
your MOM is weird and gross
lighten up a little, not like you have to live there
When another guy is directly above you, you generally do not want teabags coming down at your face.
sooooooo witty!!
So redundant.
the pics and the interview really give the room
a “flavor”. which is actually reproducable without having to enter this room and ” smell the tea bags”
The interview was great
This is one bizarre room
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I have never understood why people put so much effort into decorating a place they will live in for approx. 7 months. It’s one thing to put up some posters and stuff that you like, but the people featured in these articles go nuts. It’s hard enough moving in and out with the limited amount of crap I have. I will say this room isn’t so bad since they decorate it with lots of little stuff in neat ways, but the people who paint the room and stuff, it’s like why would you do that?
Because they haven’t yet lost the will to live
is a great room hop.
i sort of want to see that first pic larger–those window guards sound like one of the most interesting parts of this marvel…i wish i could tell what’s on them better…
click on the pic to enlarge it
sooooo witty!!!!
soooooo witty!!!!
This is by far the best room featured so far. They don’t try to deny the fact that they’re living in a college dorm; they embrace it and have created an amazingly genuine vibe. You guys rock!
calm down.
greasy high five, patty
The window guard thing is kinda cool, but I don’t know why they had to wrap it in trash.
Photos of the room were amazing!!!!!
They capture the essence perfectly.
especially the first one
Blow it up
it is SOOOO COOOL
Loves Patrick (and Shao) and Watt 3D! Also you should have posted more pictures, specifically the photo wall where the door is and the cool tiles in the ceiling!
this is one of the most well-written room hops…i like this girl! also, more pictures!!!
is simply beautiful. A really interesting and creative room.
This was the best room hop by far
She really really got the “flavor” of the room HAHAHA
no pun intended.
DO more room hops!!!!!
the photos of the room are great too
well written, indeed
this room hop! These guys seem really whimsical, fun and unpretentious — pretty refreshing! I would hang out there for sure.
hang out with us!
we’re bored.