Christien Meindertsma

Dutch designer Christien Meindertsma is something of a sleuth. “I work like a journalist,” explains the Rotterdam-based designer who has become well known for projects that record the traceability of a specific material, often over a number of years. As a student, Meindertsma created the book Checked Baggage (2004) which exhaustively categorized and recorded one week’s worth of confiscated objects at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in the aftermath of 9/11’s heightened security. A year later, One Sheep Cardigan (2005) resulted in a series of sweaters each knit from the wool of a single sheep and issued with a passport of information about the animal. PIG 05049 (2007) followed, a book project this time following the vast range of products (from ammunition to heart valves, porcelain and conditioner) harvested from a single pig. While PIG 05049 garnered Meindertsma accolades and numerous design awards, she reflects that the approach “did not make a change you can touch”...

download full article Selvedge magazine issue 78 (2017) pages 38-41