Meaning Drift
The Kvadrat design project: from the rural “graffiti” to the Technicolour-Flock rug.
Inspired by his childhood memories at the farm, Designer Peter Saville observed the farmer paint the sheep randomly to mark the ownership. The markings on the sheep look like abstract “graffiti” in motion through the landscape. He wants to bring these idyllic graffitis into the modern industrialized living environment. By cooperating with the Danish textile company-Kvadrat, he transformed the random natural graffiti marks observed in rural life into finished wool textiles through industrial manufacturing.
Design creativity first comes from unique observations from life. Peter Saville’s observation of the markings on the sheep shows his curiosity about meaningful visual phenomena in daily human life. Not everyone can capture the unique visual performance of people in life. He has a keen eye. He feels this rural “graffiti” has the potential to be transformed into a unique and aesthetically pleasing industrialized expression.
Is it a relatively common phenomenon that shepherds use colors to mark sheep in different cultures? I am unsure. If this random sign has a universal symbolic meaning, many people should easily recognize it. When this unique visual signal is transferred into live scenes in a new way, it is easy to awaken some familiar memories and feel fresh. But even if this rural “graffiti” only expresses limited local meaning, it has the potential to present a kind of random beauty. With the successful transformation of production by Kvadrat, it gets a successful meaning floating. This visual sign of rural graffiti creeps into the modern industrial environment in a new form and brings us a fresh and unique aesthetic.
Artificial creation is not just a passive backdrop for human activities, but an active carrier of meaning. Through the ingenious transformation of visual symbolism within artificial creation, artificial objects can more actively shape our experience and perception. As in this example, with the help of modern manufacturing, the raw sign derived from rural life is brought into the environment of industrialized life, thus creating a dialogue that arouses people’s emotions — — A dialogue between our pastoral memories and a modern industrial feel.
