FLÆKJA by Svart & Minuit
exhibited at designmarch reykjavik in may-22 and in milan design week in june-22
marko svart teamed up with French artist Minuit to design a series of wearable items created from fishing equipment destined for the trash.
Clothing, accessories and artworks intricately hand made from thousands of strands of fishing cords, nets and ropes recovered from the Icelandic shoreline, make a statement against ocean pollution, while displaying a unique way of re-purposing fishing debris and otherwise harmful objects.
As fishing nets are carefully designed to catch different types of fish, we want to further expand the design work and turn their uses into catching emotions and expressions of humans.
“I’ve been exploring many sources of inspiration for the past few years but I’m now longing to reunite with the ocean.
The ocean is where I feel unity with the planet, nature and existence.”
The purpose
Svart and Minuit are strong advocates for ocean conservation, concerned about the current state of our seas. This project particularly highlights the issues of “ghost nets”, fishing nets left or lost in the ocean by fishermen, tangled on reefs or drifting in the open sea.
Fishermen often abandon worn-out nets because it is often the easiest way to get rid of them. Synthetic fishing nets take up to 600 years to decompose, thus causing harm for a vastly longer time than intended.
This project is a beginning towards a new way of thinking of materials and re-usability. Similar to our project Yomigæri from last year’s DesignMarch in Reykjavík, this experiment will give foundation to future designs and I wish to be able to keep using fishnets in more accessible clothes as well.
There are a lot of discarded fishing nets and since there is no effective way to recycle them, I am up for the challenge!
