China, 1991
Thesis: Unuseless
Superpower Studio
Dominica Chen explores the twilight zone between useful and useless objects. It seems we all have an idea of what is useful and not, but perhaps we are just presumptuous. Why should a designer only make serious functional objects that solve problems and make your life easier? And would “design” not benefit tremendously if we liberate ourselves from the idea that we know “good” design? Dominica Chen deeply believes providing joy is a function. Provoking the stereotypes, she takes the “unuseless” to the next level and creates Superpower Studio. Superpower Studio dives into the internet world of “pointless superpowers” and aims to grant internet users the “pointless superpowers” that they come up with by creating physical objects. The series of objects are carefully selected and designed from some of the most popular “pointless superpowers”.
