Kai Linke and Peter Eckart developed and designed the consumption-critical project "Spoon Archaeology”.
The exhibition “Spoon Archaeology” was selected by the Federal Republic of Germany for the London Design Biennale 2021 as a contribution by the Federal Republic of Germany and was exhibited in Somerset House in the heart of London from June 2nd to June 27th, 2021 and 2022 in Staatliche Kunstsammlung Dresden Kunstgewerbemuseum Schloss Pillnitz. Under the artistic directorship of British artist and stage designer Es Devlin, the third Biennale is responding to the dramatic impact of the pandemic by questioning: Can we design a better world?

The German Pavilion was curated by Thomas A. Geisler, the director of the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden and initiator of the newly established Design Campus at Pillnitz Palace & Park. The basis of the installation is the comprehensive collection of disposable cutlery made of plastic and other materials, which the designers have collected and studied over many years. Plastic cutlery is a global phenomenon and also a global problem. As disposable products, they are mass-produced, cheap, easy to transport and can be disposed of just as easily as they have been used. Ultimately, they are a symbol of our globalized logistics and throwaway culture.

Staged as archaeological remnants, curiosities, and objects of fascination they are contemporary witnesses of an era that has just ended and provide information about the state of the global consumer society. Films and infographics visualize the research into alternatives to plastic tableware. In addition, production cycles and material flows as well as cultural anthropological aspects of eating habits are examined.

The idea for the German contribution to the Biennale stems from the ban on plastic cutlery in the European Union, which will come into effect on July 3, 2021. Disposable cutlery produced in the previous decades will thereby become artifacts of our recent past. As displayed objects, cutlery does not only convey information on their usage or on different cultures, but moreover provide conclusions about dishes, which are part of optimizing food intake, too. Eating tools eventually adapt to the developments of human life and are thus significant factors in our table and dining culture as well as in the history of technology.

For almost half of the people on earth, eating with fingers, i.e. without tools, is a part of everyday life. "Fingers and Food" was filmed in Offenbach am Main / Germany in 2021. Offenbach is the city with over 159 nationalities living together and has the highest percentage of people with a migration background in Germany. The short film demonstrates how enjoyable and natural eating with the hands can be and gives an impression of the versatility of the hand as a multifunctional eating utensil. In the context of the exhibition "Spoon Archaeology", "fingers and food" also implicitly suggests a change in behaviour and a re-consideration of adopting alternative cultural habits as a necessary mean for future handlings of disposables and refuse. Concept & Design Peter Eckart & Kai Linke, Video realized by Julie Gaston & Robin Schmid

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The infographic reflects as a gigamapwhich influencing and interdependentparameters and aspects contribute tothe creation of a product or object. It becomes clear that, for example, thefrequently suggested replacement oftechnologies or materials is notsufficient to produce sustainablechanges for the environment andsociety. Material is influenced by pro-duction or transport, production byenergy, food by lifestyle, lifestyle byculture and vice versa and so on. Alsopart of this map are a timeline of thehistorical development of cutlery andexplanations of terms. Spoon Complexity Map, idea Peter Eckart and Kai Linke, Lukas Loscher, Dylan McGuire (concept and graphics) Price on Request

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The film "Beyond spoon" was made in Offenbach in 2021 and documents a neural network’s attempt to generate one typification of a spoon that embodies a vast archive of disposable spoons around the world. Through AI computer-aided identification, new synthetic images of spoons evolve as a living memory of disposable plastic spoons. By adding the hand as a priming sample to the collection of eating utensils, the machine amalgamates and unites to form a hybrid as a narrative of consolidation for the future. Idea by Peter Eckart & Ken Rodenwaldt, Direction & Programming by EgoZen (Ken Rodenwaldt, Armin Arndt resp.)

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The traditional etchings arerelated to the idea of„archaeology“. Plastic cutlery drawn andreproduced as it was 400 yearsago, the usual period ofdeterioration of plastic. Idea: Peter Eckart and Kai Linke, Production of the limited edition prints/etchings by Jiun Kim Price on Request

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