Blue.Baam
PLATFORM
Blue.Baam Collection 1 is a two-day pop-up exhibition: a combination of commercial shop space and art exhibition, happened on March 29 - 30th, 2025 at Lettuce House in the Lower East Side of New York.
APRIL 15, 2025
What inspired you to create the Blue.Baam pop-up experience, and what is the main concept behind it?
Blue.Baam was created because we wanted a space that unites art and design without mediums, disciplines, or expectations being boundaries. We wanted to show the crossovers that are happening between a fine artist and an object designer: namely, amongst Asian artists.
This Blue.Baam name itself is a tribute to a Blue serpent that is inspired by 2025 being the Year of the Blue Snake in the Asian zodiac. We took “Baam” from the Korean word for snake (뱀), tying it back to our roots. The overall idea is to design an experience that converges marketplace, exhibition, and socializing into one immersive experience.
Blue.Baam was created because we wanted a space that unites art and design without mediums, disciplines, or expectations being boundaries. We wanted to show the crossovers that are happening between a fine artist and an object designer: namely, amongst Asian artists.
This Blue.Baam name itself is a tribute to a Blue serpent that is inspired by 2025 being the Year of the Blue Snake in the Asian zodiac. We took “Baam” from the Korean word for snake (뱀), tying it back to our roots. The overall idea is to design an experience that converges marketplace, exhibition, and socializing into one immersive experience.
Can you describe the journey from the initial idea to the realization of Blue.Baam?
Blue.Baam emerged from casual conversations among friends, New York-based designers and artists, concerning the lack of easily accessible, curated spaces that showcase Asian creatives whose work bridges both conceptual depth and commercial appeal.
In response, we began shaping Blue.Baam into a project that’s tactile, experimental, and rooted in personal connection. From there, we secured a venue, built a team, crafted a cohesive visual identity, and reached out to artists from Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo, Atlanta, and Vancouver whose practices reflect and expand on our vision.
What challenges did you encounter along the way, and how did you solve them?
One of the biggest challenges was bringing together such different works: jewelry, fashion, eyewear, zines, fine art, into a space that felt cohesive. Figuring out the layout took time. A friend gave us a key piece of advice: instead of cramming everything in, leave room to breathe. That empty space actually enhances the viewing experience and invites deeper engagement and even more thoughtful buying.
So instead of the usual pop-up setup where each artist gets a tall table like a market stall, we built low pedestals and shelves to create a gallery-like feel. We were intentional about how the pieces were arranged, making sure the fine art and commercial works felt like they were in conversation, not competition. In the end, we created a space that felt thoughtful, fluid, and unified.
What role does the local community play in shaping the themes and offerings of Blue.Baam?
The local creative community is the heartbeat of Blue.Baam. Our themes are often inspired by conversations within our circle, about identity, hybridity, and humor. Many of the artists and designers are based in NYC or have strong ties here, and their work reflects the city’s landscape. We also designed the event to be welcoming, intentionally accessible and fun ; there's music, drinks, interaction, which encourages neighborhood passersby to come in and engage with the work, even if they’re not typical gallery-goers.
How do you select the artists, performers, or vendors who participate in Blue.Baam?
For Collection I, we featured work by incredibly talented artists and designers including: Amos Kang, Bella Boo, Soo Park (Donkist), Lexie (Hazi Haus), Janette Oh (ë tOh), Kimin Kim, Aaron Deng (Pulp), Reilly Blum, Soeun Bae (sbeads), Lindsay Kim (The Hardware Store), and Yuqing Liu. Their practices spanned sculpture, textiles, apparel, jewelry, painting, and furniture—bringing together a group of true cross-disciplinary minds. Graphic designer Jeehye Yim led the overall branding of the pop-up, creating all visuals including posters and social media content that tied everything together. Many of us studied at schools like Rhode Island School of Design, Parsons, the Cooper Union, and the Fashion Institute of Technology, so there was an instant creative shorthand and shared energy that came through in the space.
It’s all about storytelling and intention. We look for artists and designers whose work blurs boundaries, between function and aesthetics, tradition and future. We’re especially drawn to those who take risks and incorporate humor, cultural memory, or experimental processes into their work.
We were also lucky to have support from Lunar, an Asian American-owned brand whose mission aligned closely with ours. It was meaningful to collaborate with a sponsor that understood the cultural context and nuance behind the work.
Can you share any memorable stories or experiences from past Blue.Baam events that highlight its impact?
One of the most memorable moments was during the launch of Bella Boo, a brand that fully embraced the unexpected. Instead of presenting their products in a traditional way, they used the event space and the guests themselves to shoot Instagram Reels and launch the brand in real-time. For example, they’d ask a guest who showed up on a skateboard to model, or spontaneously capture a friend smoking outside and turn that moment into part of the brand story.
Those kinds of raw, analog interactions; unplanned, human, and impossible to replicate digitally, really brought the space to life. It reminded us why pop-ups like this matter: they create moments that can’t exist anywhere else. It was a good reminder that the magic happens when people show up as themselves, and we stay open to the unexpected.
What are your future plans for Blue.Baam? Are there any upcoming themes or collaborations you're excited about?
We’re already thinking about Collection II—possibly in Brooklyn, Tokyo, or Seoul. The idea is to go beyond just a marketplace. If a brand needs an exhibition, a flash mob, a film screening, or even a full-on concert to launch properly, we want to help make that happen. We see Blue. Baam as a kind of starting point for artists, a space where something new begins.
What advice would you give to other creators looking to launch their own pop-up experiences?
Start with people you vibe with, a mood or message you believe in, and let it grow from there. Don’t stress about having it all figured out , honest energy draws people in way quicker than a perfectly curated feed. Keep it small, real, and open to surprises. Some of the best moments happen in between the plans, in hallway chats, last-minute collabs, and snack breaks that turn into brainstorms.
It’s all about storytelling and intention. We look for artists and designers whose work blurs boundaries, between function and aesthetics, tradition and future. We’re especially drawn to those who take risks and incorporate humor, cultural memory, or experimental processes into their work.
We were also lucky to have support from Lunar, an Asian American-owned brand whose mission aligned closely with ours. It was meaningful to collaborate with a sponsor that understood the cultural context and nuance behind the work.
Can you share any memorable stories or experiences from past Blue.Baam events that highlight its impact?
One of the most memorable moments was during the launch of Bella Boo, a brand that fully embraced the unexpected. Instead of presenting their products in a traditional way, they used the event space and the guests themselves to shoot Instagram Reels and launch the brand in real-time. For example, they’d ask a guest who showed up on a skateboard to model, or spontaneously capture a friend smoking outside and turn that moment into part of the brand story.
Those kinds of raw, analog interactions; unplanned, human, and impossible to replicate digitally, really brought the space to life. It reminded us why pop-ups like this matter: they create moments that can’t exist anywhere else. It was a good reminder that the magic happens when people show up as themselves, and we stay open to the unexpected.
What are your future plans for Blue.Baam? Are there any upcoming themes or collaborations you're excited about?
We’re already thinking about Collection II—possibly in Brooklyn, Tokyo, or Seoul. The idea is to go beyond just a marketplace. If a brand needs an exhibition, a flash mob, a film screening, or even a full-on concert to launch properly, we want to help make that happen. We see Blue. Baam as a kind of starting point for artists, a space where something new begins.
What advice would you give to other creators looking to launch their own pop-up experiences?
Start with people you vibe with, a mood or message you believe in, and let it grow from there. Don’t stress about having it all figured out , honest energy draws people in way quicker than a perfectly curated feed. Keep it small, real, and open to surprises. Some of the best moments happen in between the plans, in hallway chats, last-minute collabs, and snack breaks that turn into brainstorms.