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| Metahaven, 'Signal Murcia', installation at the former Post Office, Murcia (ACAF), Manifesta 8, 2010. Original photo by Ilya Rabinovich. Print screen. |
Metahaven is a studio ''for design and research'' based in Amsterdam. Founded in 2007 by Vinca Kruk and Daniel van der Velden, their work -both commissioned and self-directed- focuses on identity while reflecting political and social issues through its provocative graphic design schemes. Amongst the studio's research projects are the Sealand Identity Project as well as the celebrated Uncorporate Identity (Lars Müller, 2010), a self-initiated book on politics and visual identity.
In 2010, Metahaven were invited to participate in Manifesta 8, Murcia, Spain. Perhaps, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the concept that Metahaven came up with for their Manifesta project we should take into consideration that Murcia is a very important region for the European fruit and vegetable market. Having said that though, some of the production -eg. lemons- has moved to Northern Africa or even to other places outside Europe. The issue of Manifesta 8 was suggestively titled to be “in dialogue with Northern Africa.”
Through an interview taken by the Highlights, an online art journal, Metahaven observe that ''... fruit has an origin. From that origin it travels in a network, between nodes of distribution, until it ends up at the place where it is eaten.''[1] The designers came up with a fruit-market installation -with fresh fruit provided by a cooperative of organic farmers who run a self-managed business, exporting throughout Spain and to some other European countries. As a project, Signal (Murcia) is considered to be an alternative labeling system for the fruits; one that is based less on the characteristics of the product but more on the sociopolitical situation of the place they have been produced at. Through the same interview, Metahaven pointed out that they ''.. love fruit labels as devices that contain information, ideas, and dreams... Unlike packaging, fruit labels do not overshadow the product. Often, all they do is convey the origin or name of the fruit, as well as a certain atmosphere... ''.[2]
To sum up, Kruk and van der Velden ''.. are interested to voluntarily approach the constraints of commissioned design, while operating in an art context...''.[3] And I suppose that by now, the seemingly weird title -Signal (Murcia)- just started to make some sense.
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| Metahaven, 'Signal Murcia', installation at the former Post Office, Murcia (ACAF), Manifesta 8, 2010. Original photo by Ilya Rabinovich. Print screen. |
Notes:
1, 2, 3. The Highlights.org ‘Interview with Metahaven’
< http://thehighlights.org/wp/interview-with-metahaven> [Accessed on 25.07.12]
Nikos Georgopoulos
London,
July 12
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