How ‘Beef’ Artisans Staged Amy’s Home and Built That Three-Legged ‘Butt Chair’

variety.com:

A.D. Amorosi From its angrily ornate title cards to its icily appointed doom house of crowns, the art and design elements of “Beef” — Netflix’s 10-episode series from creator Lee Sung Jin — provide the bleak road rage dramedy with a subtle brand of ardent aggression to match its one-upmanship revenge fantasy.

The tactile, class-conscious aesthetic of haves (Ali Wong’s Amy) and have-nots (Steven Yeun’s Danny), created by production designer Grace Yun and art director Michael Hersey, pursue a metaphorical vision.

Here, curated paintings, sculptures and furnishings — in gallery and home settings — are equitable to the mood swings of its principal characters. “The characters are real and complex.

The rage coming from Amy and Danny was so well-written, and before I even read the first episode Sonny [Lee Sung Jin’s nickname] sent me an idea for the character art,” Yun told Variety. “I knew where I wanted its look to go.” Matching the hyperactive road rage vibes and vicious revenge tricks of “Beef” to its physical ideation of art, sculpture and room design came down to each character’s psychology — “Where they were in life,” said Yun. “The outward presentation of self, with Amy, is about success and perfect curation, and yet her inner-self is in turmoil and chaotic.