The Cobalt Muffin | Atelier YokYok

The Cobalt Muffin is made of rope and metallic structure, and will be exhibited from October 1st 2019 to July 30th 2020 on Yuyuan road 1107 Shanghai.  

All the artwork has been fabricated locally in a very short time! It will host public events on the lawn underneath and acts as a landmark in the area.

Cobalt Muffin is an original artwork especially designed for Shanghai Yuyuan Road by YokYok in 2019 and comissioned by CREATER. It is the first installation in China by the studio.

The artwork takes place in 1107 Yuyuan road Shanghai in the Changning district. It will be exhibited from October 1st 2019 to July 1st 2020.

The Yuyuan road is the main axis of a dynamic area that promotes art and creation city-wide. This lively area counts numerous shops, fashion stores, art galleries, offices, restaurants and housing. This diverse typology makes it a well balanced and active neighboorhood.

Concept

Cobalt Muffin acts as a geometric presence floating over the lawn. Its apparent complexity is actually made of 60 similar triangles, covered with a semi-transparent skin made of elastic ropes.
The big volume, floating as a cloud over the visitors becomes light and immaterial. As a kite or a lantern, it levitates above the ground in a apparent lightweight.
Inviting the people to observe it and walk around, it offers a bright and colorful dialog between geometry and materiality, rethinking the borders between art and architecture.

Its volumetry is the result of an hemisphere of a «rhombicosacron polyhedra». Poles extend the edges of this dome and lift it up at 2m20 above ground. 7,5km of rope has been used to realize this installation, as well as a tubular metalic structure in order to resist tension, time and
weather. As for the «Shooting Vaults» in 2015, YokYok wanted to play with volumes and materiality. However this time the context was not used to generate the project’s shape, YokYok created a singular object, a geometric surprise in the urban landscape. Simultaneously precious by its color and generous by the space it occupies, it offers itself to all as a popular candy. Its transparency and lightness contrasts with its straight edges and volume. Finally, it talks about architecture as a filter that plays with materiality.