åbäke + mgw + exd09

Maki suzuki and Kajsa Ståhl for åbäke
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We send you below a description of the project and the context within which it happens:


The work is part of a group show of 6 UK-based designers/artists called TIMELESS. We are invited by the British council UK, which in turn is invited by Experimenta from Lisbon. Although the exhibition is happening in the Museu de Oriente, the overall idea is to question what design and Art can achieve with less. As the press release of the show expresses, can we do more with less? All the works from everybody finds a physical realisation in Lisbon itself as opposed to bringing objects in the museum. Most of us did/will work with artists, architects, craftsmen or someone from Lisbon as one of the important parameter is that we rely on local skills and knowledge as opposed to manufacturing or making something in London to ship it elsewhere.


The Museu de Oriente will therefore provide some sort of mapping device which is somewhere between a notice board showing the process and ideas related to the work as well as a map of where to find the work in situ.


Our work deals directly with the idea of mapping and the scale of oneself within a big city like Lisbon. We got interested in the city model which is in the City Museum and noticed that the city museum itself was missing from the model. This was absolutely normal as the model only covers the southern area of Lisbon. However, we thought it was a shame and decided it should have its own representation, creating a "mise en abyme" effect or something sometimes described as the Droste effect. The latter comes from a dutch packaging showing a nun holding a package showing a nun holding a package etc. During our research trip, we came across the Brazilia café which incredibly follows the same principle. The museum model will be in the same scale as the city model (1:500) and will be geographically correct in relation to the city model situated inside. According to our loose calculations, the museum model should be somewhere in the garden behind the building, but still within the walls of the museum.


The work will be therefore divided in two parts: A map and a model.


For the map, we intend to use the very map the tourism office offers for free. We will screenprint over it to only leave the area of the city museum model. We will also leave the area of the museum itself. A second layer, in green will reproduce on the map the garden bushes. As a consequence, the map can be read at two different scales. One of the city and one, larger of the museum and its garden.


For the model, we are considering the building of the museum which is composed of one major building, two smaller pavillion and a greenhouse plus the gardens. As we would like to emphasize the existence of the model itself, we would also like to have the model built within the model.

We are Kajsa Stahl & Maki Suzuki, from a graphic design collective called Åbäke in London, Uk. (www.myspace.com/abakespace)

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This is our comment for the website:

—Portugal
—Boat
—Straw hat
—Miguel
—Coffe & Cake
—Fishermans hut
—Perfect facilities
—Warm day
—Ink
—Fabulous
—Sardines
—Wine
—Mike
—Antonio
—Maps
—Red
—Green
—Brown
—Thank you