Alexander Marstrand: 100 Days to Graduation 2017

Alexander: ”I am in the early stages of my research. Rather than addressing UN’s 17 Goals directly, I relate to the UN quite literally in my MA graduate project. I see the project as a comment on the current condition of the globe as such with my personal mix of melancholy and playfulness.    

My approach is sort of a quirky dystopia as an encouragement to enjoy life on the planet before it is too late. I want to point in new visual directions to highlight the potentials of fashion as communication. Because fashion contributes to visualizing differences – besween high and low, men and women… - it can be used as a tool for changing behavior and values.

I am particularly inspired by a mural at the UN headquarters in New York by Swedish painter Bo Beskow. He described the piece as a “gentle demonstration” which is also how I see my project. This will be evident in the treatment of the UN as a visual universe of power through visual identity, architecture and flags. Since I am not designing for UN delegates, I want to transport these recognizable elements into a different universe that is both hyper-political and almost naively curious.

Part of my design method will be working with the white shirt through deconstruction. I have this image of the planet as a stained white shirt. Because a white shirt is an emblem of power but it is also very vulnerable. So, I am trying to capture that ambivalence in my project that I have entitled “UNspiration”.