The sustainable design team's new release, "Redfish", a Hanging Mobile, is kinetic art that inspires education about the dwindling British Columbia salmon run. A large scale version of "Redfish" will be on display in a featured event of the Toronto International Design Festival hosted by the Institute for Contemporary Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum in January 2010.
Continuing Contexture's exploration of family life across species, as first seen in their 2008 Design Exchange Award winning "As the Crow Flies" hanging mobile, "Redfish" depicts a salmon community's journey up the river to spawn. "The mobile is about homecoming", says Contexture co-founder Nathan Lee. "It's a journey that sees millions of salmon scattered across the ocean reunite at the mouth of their native river."
"Each mobile is made from a different outdated topography map" says Contexture partner Trevor Coghill. "It's significant because topography defines watersheds, and watersheds create the streams that the salmon return to spawn in." The mobile's release is timely given that BC salmon run numbers have dropped dramatically in the last three years. This summer only 1.6 of the expected 10.6 million sockeye salmon made the Fraser River run. The effects are far reaching: without sufficient salmon to feed on before hibernation, bears have fewer cubs, or worse, fail to make it through the winter.
"Redfish's" seven handmade hanging elements portray 10 realistically rendered sockeye salmon and a bear family in their natural habitat. The laser-cut elements are composed of colourful topographic maps on one side and vibrant red recycled paper on the other. The contrasting colours and patterns attract attention, while the maps represent the watershed and the connection between the salmon, their journey's route and their ecosystem.
"Redfish" are available online for $49 with free shipping for any online sales. The mobiles have been designed to fit in recycled envelopes for shipping, reducing the need for further packaging and related environmental impacts.
The large scale "Redfish" mobile will be shown alongside work from Tobias Wong and Douglas Coupland as part of "Cut/Paste", an event highlighting Canada's history of reuse. The exhibit will be shown at the Royal Ontario Museum's Institute for Contemporary Culture from January 20th -31st, 2010 as part of this year's Toronto International Design Festival.
To see the mobile online, visit www.contexture.ca/redfish. To download print quality images, visit www.contexture.ca/media. To attend the Press Preview of the "Cut/Past" exhibit on January 19th, contact Nathan Lee at . See below for product and company backgrounders.
Nathan Lee
Contexture Design
604-729-2444
Contexture is an award winning Vancouver-based multidisciplinary design firm comprised of workshop (product design and fabrication), studio (graphic art and design) and fieldwork (landscape design and illustration) departments.
The firm's two designers, Nathan Lee and Trevor Coghill, are graduates of UBC's Landscape Architecture program. Their work emphasizes simple, elegant and sustainable design, and is often inspired by reclaimed materials with historical, cultural or environmental significance.
Contexture products include "Bentwood," a line of wooden accessories featuring the "Coffee Cuff," made from reclaimed architectural veneers, "45" iPod cases made from recycled vinyl records and cassette tapes, and a line of wildlife-themed hanging mobiles including "As the Crow Files" and "Redfish", both made from found maps.
Contexture has been featured in New York Times Style Magazine and Globe and Mail, and has appeared on CBC television and radio. They have participated in design-related events such as the West Xprssd exhibit of emerging Western Canadian designers, and were awarded Best in Category in Industrial Design at the 2008 Design Exchange Awards for their mobile, "As the Crow Flies". Their work has been shown at the Museum of Vancouver and in a an exhibit called CUT/COPY, part of the Toronto International Design Festival hosted by the Institute for Contemporary Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.
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