We dig the pig
Christien Meindertsma’s project to discover all the products made from a single pig (the titular 05049) ended up taking her 3 years, and included such unexpected products as wine, carbonless paper, zinc, medicine capsules, paint, cigarettes, toothpaste, heart valves and train brakes. The products were all exhibited at an installation in Rotterdam last year; for the book she has photographed them all on a 1:1 scale.
This is both a beautifully produced object (we particularly love the stud on the cover) and a very revealing piece of research; it totally chimed with our fondness for great graphic design and restless inquiry into the peculiar workings of the modern world.
Many thanks to Lisbeth Juul of the INDEX awards who very sweetly gave us a copy of PIG 05049, which won INDEX’s Play category.
The book is available via Amazon.com. A limited edition of 50 have also been produced with pigskin covers and photo of Pig 05049.
Written by Hettie
on October 12, 2009
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What an interesting project, and to have spent three years demonstrates how diverse the uses are for pig products. The pig is a much maligned creature but until recently was the only source of insulin for insulin dependent Diabetics. So in fact the pig is a life saver. Regretably the substitute for pig derived insulin is not always suitable for users and can have severe side effects, but the pig insulin is being phased out.
Ethically it would be wonderful to think that no animals are killed in order to feed, clothe, furnish or any of the thousands of uses animal parts are used for, as demonstrated in this project, but when something as important as a lifesaving drug can be derived from a pig, one wonders why the drug companies are so keen to get rid of it?