The team at Samsung has been monitoring the way
people watch television very closely over the past few
years, observing the living spaces, lives, schedules,
interests and habits of its products’ users. ‘We found that,
on average, a TV is used for around five hours a day,’
says Yun-Je Kang, Samsung’s head of design in visual
display. ‘For almost 20 hours it remains a black screen.
We wanted to find a way for the TV to be used for 24 hours
a day, so the experience can be enjoyed all the time.’
And so the concept of The Frame TV was born.
Employing state-of-the-art technology, Samsung’s
The Frame 4K UHD TV is a thing of slender beauty,
sitting perfectly flush against the wall, just like an
artwork, while an elegant bespoke picture frame raises
the screen to art gallery standards. When The Frame is not
in conventional operation, streaming the latest films or
broadcasting news channels, it can be switched to Art
Mode. So, instead of fading to a dull black, The Frame’s
display transforms into a work of contemporary art, with
users granted access to more than 100 pieces of art
available in the Samsung Collection, and more than
600 pieces of art available in the Art Store. To help its
users collect their own gallery of pictures, Samsung has
partnered with curators including Elise Van Middelem
and artists such as Tobias Rehberger, Barry McGee,
Todd Eberle and Luisa Lambri. ‘The Frame allows people
to experience art in a new way,’ says McGee.
To enhance the content-centric user experience,
Samsung was determined to emphasise the notion of
art in the digital space. ‘We referred to what museums
and galleries do in their spaces, how they make the art
the star,’ says Jimin Kim, Samsung’s senior visual designer.
‘We visited museums to see what kind of techniques
and lighting they use, and what they use as a background
to highlight the art in the space. We wanted to make
a product that was cooler than anything else out there.’
‘This is such a different medium for artists to be
working with, and we wanted to think about how to
build out the combination of painting and digital work
in an elaborate way,’ says Van Middelem. ‘We tried to
find a starting point for each category, then fill it in a
thoughtful way. The result has been amazing. Works by
artists such as Eberle and Lambri could once only be
viewed in a gallery. Now they are accessible to everyone.’
samsung.com
Samsung’s The Frame is
a revolutionary way to
think about the television
set, transforming the
dull black box into a new
way to hang artworks.
Featured on the screen
is a specially commissioned
work by Tobias Rehberger
‘Quantum’ rug, from
£1,003, by The Rug Company,
therugcompany.com.
All art books kindly supplied
by Assouline, assouline.comWallpaper* Bespoke