Rehoming DunDun — zistudio

New York City, New York, United States

2025,2026

I collected some DunDuns and brought them back to New York. Together with Chinatown Basketball Club and Bungee Space, we initiated a collaborative project, using “adoption” as the approach of co-creation, to share the stories of displacement within Dameng community, and to reflect on the broader impacts of urbanization and gentrification of “loss”.

DunDuns brought from Dameng to New York for adoption.

Adoption Project

In New York, the DunDuns brought from Dameng were placed for adoption. Each adopter received a DunDun together with DunDun’s Pack, and was invited to use it, care for it, and document its new life at home.

Through sitting, touching, carrying, and living with DunDun, the adoption process creates an embodied experience that connects people to the object and the stories behind it. The project has also been shared through public events, book presentations, and pop-ups at spaces including Bungee Space, International Center of Photography, and the Canadian Centre for Architecture Pop-up.

The adoption fees will be used to support future community-based projects back in Dameng. Rehoming DunDun is still ongoing.

DunDun at Public Events

CCA Bookstore Pop-up
Canadian Centre for Architecture x SO–IL

TRANSUMUTE!
FotoFoto, New York, NY

Artists Talk
FotoFoto, New York, NY

DunDun with Adopters

Lu’s DunDun on CBC’s Merch

Julie with her DunDun

Tien’s DunDun at his home

Echo’s DunDun at her home

Wenyou’s DunDun at her place

DunDun at Bungee Space

Plot’s Dundun

DunDun’s reunion

Fei’s DunDun with her cats

Long’s DunDun with other stools

Jennifer with her DunDun

Wah-Ming organizing her poetry while sitting on DunDun.

Video revisit with Yayoi and her DunDun

Dameng Community, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China

2024

Dameng is a resettlement community in Zhengzhou, Henan, China, where villagers were moved from farmland and single-story houses into newly built apartment blocks. This spatial change disrupted familiar rhythms of daily life, especially for elderly residents who relied on public space for resting, gathering, and socializing.

DunDun 墩墩 emerged from this context. Made from discarded construction foam and recycled fabric, it is light, soft, and easy to carry. For Dameng residents, DunDun is not only a stool, but also an everyday tool for adapting to a changed environment.

DunDun’s Pack

Following field research in Dameng, we created DunDun’s Pack, a research-based publication that gathers the stories, images, materials, and context surrounding DunDun. The publication serves as both a document and a companion to the stools, helping audiences understand where DunDun comes from and why it matters.

Rather than separating the object from its background, DunDun’s Pack travels together with DunDun. It introduces the making process, the living conditions of Dameng residents, and the social relationships formed around this everyday object. The publication has been shared through public presentations and book events.

DunDun’s Pack is avaible at Bungee Space and Printed Matter in New York.

Rehoming DunDun

Short Intro

Instagram @dundungetahome