T is for Tornado, 2025 Aluminum rod, PLA, acrylic, polyester, wood, polyethylene 37.25h x 31.25w x 25.50d in
Formed in 2024 by Woojin Lee and Joseph Burwell, the Department of Cynical Delight is a collaborative artistic identity that explores the intersection of their shared aesthetic philosophies. Together, they create sculptures, installations, and videos that blur the boundaries between art and design, using humor and conceptual rigor to dissect the absurdities of human behavior and cultural consumption.
Our work explores speculative themes through dark humor and absurdity. We produce artifacts that borrow from consumerist aesthetics and corporate design processes while subverting their inherent narratives. We rely on humor as a universal and approachable space for dialogue. We create sculptures, installations, and videos that blur the boundaries between art and design, using humor and conceptual rigor to process human behavior and cultural consumption.
Snapped Tree Unit
In 2024, our inaugural project, Apocalypse Laboratories, simulated a laboratory environment within the industrial ecosystem of Sewoon Plaza in Seoul, Korea. It imagined a fictional Research and Development facility exploring the commodification of apocalyptic imagery—specifically, severe weather phenomena—by an amusement industry that produces toys, games, and novelty items.
Debris Simulation Kits
Wall Remnant Unit
"As a collaborative duo with art and design backgrounds, our practice exists at the intersection of both. Rooted in the tradition of critical design, our work explores speculative themes through dark humor and absurdity. We produce artifacts that borrow from consumerist aesthetics and corporate design processes while subverting their inherent narratives. Rather than adopting a didactic tone, we rely on humor as a universal and approachable space for dialogue."
