Picture of the Day: Tennis Ball Furniture

Tennis ball furniture, anyone?

I don't know if these chairs are comfortable, but at least the material is being reused.

Sports for Hope Foundation has teamed up with Hong Kong designer and Goods of Desire owner Douglas Young to create furniture from used tennis balls that were collected at 16 private clubs and five Leisure and Cultural Services Department tennis courts across the city.

They are currently on display at Lee Theatre, across from Times Square shopping mall in Causeway Bay until the end of July.

It is estimated that over 2 million tennis balls are used each year in Hong Kong. That's a lot of tennis which is great, but then what does happen to these balls when they go soft and are unusable anymore?

Oldenburg made big versions of everyday objects

"I think most of us do not realise used tennis balls can cause such a huge environmental issue," said Young in a press release. 

"I am so grateful to be offered the opportunity to help. In making the world a better place, these amazing pieces of environmentally friendly artwork are born. The lesson I have learned is to never underestimate the creative potential of the most ordinary things we have around us."

That led me to think of artist Claes Oldenburg who died earlier this week at the age of 93. The Swedish-born American Pop artist took everyday objects and made them huge, placing them in outdoor landscapes. They made viewers look at ordinary things differently, with a dose of whimsy.

Tennis balls should definitely be reused some way -- and hopefully it's not just as art pieces, but in ways that can be useful to others.