It’s almost as if the jungle is fighting back. In this supermarket, the much-heralded consumer goods are not the stars of the show. Here, the spotlight is on the plants that those products originate from – plants from the (sub)tropical regions of our planet. The exhibition shows us the flora that we come into daily contact with, opening our eyes to the origins of the items that we often take for granted. It highlights the distance they travel on their journey from the jungle to the checkout. We see that these luxury goods impact on more than just our tastebuds – they lead to a whole host of previously unseen ecological consequences.

Above all though, it places these plants and their unique features, habitats and stories in foreign, yet familiar surroundings, enabling the customer to gain a better understanding of where their favourite products come from. So, what are we you waiting for? Take a look!

The Exhibition was an experience for the senses. Not only could you watch and feel the plants, test your nose for tropical flavours or try the miracle fruit- there also was a sound installation. The relaxing sound of whispering leaves and exotic bird sounds discreetely increased the tropical atmosphere. Every eight minutes though the jungle idyll was interrupted. Then a typical supermarket jingle heralded an announcement. Slogans in the characteristic supermarket slang about nine selected plants aroused the curiosity of the visitor.
If you would like to listen to these announcements selectively just fast-forward to the marked peaks of the audio file.

For those who don´t understand german here is a translation of three of the audio bids.

Curcuma
You-Yeah, you! Have you too always asked yourself, what makes curry so deliciously aromatic? In our fresh produce aisle you will find the secret ingredient- as long as supplies last!

Nutmeg
“Myristica fragrans”- a breathtaking exotic that will change your conciousness!Get your ultimate kick at our supermarket shelve! For risks and side effects ask your biologist or botanist.

Chilli
a deep-red seductress from latinamerica is waiting for you in the fresh produce aisle. Capsicum frutescens is called a nightshade plant for a reason! She is so hot, you definately won’t keep a cool head.

TEAM: Katarzyna Bodziak, Meike Detering, Britta Liermann, Janna Rinck under the supervision of Prof. Barbara Holzer, Prof. Philip Teufel and Prof. Herman Verkerk (FH Düsseldorf, edi – Exhibition Design Institute, MA Exhibition Design).

Listen! Play! Make Music! was a temporary exhibition at Experimenta Heilbronn, a science centre for children. Working at Space 4 as a freelancer, I had the pleasure to design this exhibition as well as to give support throughout the planning process. The brief was to create a playful and educational environment, where visitors could explore how we perceive, generate and transform  sounds. The experimental instruments were made by renowned artist Michael Bradke.

The two storey exhibition space was transformed into a walk-in comic strip, where children were encouraged to act like the little heroes in this story of sound and music.

The ground floor featured softer tones and language that was clear and formal, but still inspirational. Here, the children could experiment with the sounds generated by simple materials such as metal, stone or glass. They could hear for themselves how things chimed, tingled, clanged or rang if they hit, bumped, stroke or blew on them.

On the first floor, the little visitors could compose music by jumping on the disco carpet, or by shining a light onto a surface. They could even change their voices into monster speech. In another area, they could experience how electronics transformed, distorted, muffled and reconstructed familiar sounds – taking the children into new worlds. Upstairs, the design was particularly bright, an explosion of vivid colours and shapes.

TEAM:  Franziska Schmidt, Angelika Vogel, Katarzyna Bodziak under the lead of Space 4.

Immediately after my Masters, I went to India. I spent three weeks of my stay working for the Leh Old Town Initiative (LOTI), an offshoot of the Tibet Heritage Fund. The old town, nestled at the heart of the Himalayas, was once the site of an important crossroads for the Central Asian caravan trade. Ladakh’s culture has been shaped more than most by the transmission of goods and ideas from such disparate regions as Tibet, Yarkand, Kashmir, Afghanistan. The town is dissected by branches of the Silk Road that connects city states, such as Samarkand and Bukhara.The influence of this vibrant trade is still tangible in the capital, Leh. The Central Asian Museum in the city center is dedicated to this aspect of the region’s history. When I arrived, the Museum was almost complete, but the restaurant area in its courtyard still needed a design concept. A traditional tea kitchen, where visitors would be able to get local snacks and beverages, was already under construction. Now, it was about finding a seating solution that involved more then just standard restaurant chairs. It was important that guests had a space to sit down and enjoy a break. They could even borrow books from the adjoining library, or simply unwind and pass the time. The courtyard should be an area for relaxation and encourage locals and the tourists to mingle in a natural environment.

For the first time since my first semester I had to cope with the design process only using pen and paper. Luckily, the fact that the courtyard was situated on the exact spot where the caravans used to park, made finding a suitable design concept easy.

The furniture creates an instant connection with the caravans that used to come and go from this exact spot. This gives the visitor a strong sense of the history of the place, even at first glance. What’s more, it has a practical use: the “bistari” mattresses once used as suitcases (when rolled up) or as bedding, by traveling salesman, were reinvented here as seating. Visitors were even invited to roll them out flat and make themselves comfortable.

Wooden boxes, like those that were tied to the backs of pack animals, were used here as tables. I replaced their side panels with translucent plexiglass, featuring old pictures of caravans. Battery-powered LED lights illuminated the pictures as soon as it got dark. This not only enhanced the atmosphere, but also helped the tourists to understand the place’s historical context. Additionally, each box contained a traditional ladakhi board game, some just like the ones played by locals on nearby street corners, and some older, rarer games. This feature was designed to attract locals to the museum courtyard. Maybe they could even teach the tourists the rules and introduce them to their traditions? If sharing a laugh over an exciting games doesn’t have the power to overcome the barriers of foreign cultures, what does?

I’d like to thank Yutaka Hirako and the whole LOTI team for a beautiful and exciting experience!

The ethnic group of the frisians has strongly influenced the Netherlands and the nothern part of Germany. Until today their cultural impact is tangible, just as it is still visible with bare eyes how the Frisians had formed their lands to make it arable back in the Stone Age. Under the turf there is even more to discover. The exhibition in the Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden takes you on an expedition through 50 years of archeological excavations from both sides of the border.

The visitor walks through a tectonic landscape within the characteristic endless panorama of Friesland. The green plateus with their organicly twisted legs present their treasures on different levels, revealing different aspects of the multifaceted frisian history. From time to time a surface isn’t green as the frisian grass but exposes it’s bare structure. Here the exhibition highlights the work of  the archeologists.

TEAM: Kristina Witt, Katarzyna Bodziak under the lead of  Space 4

The first track with Frank Sonic also featured Tube & Berger, two DJs with a significant following. They were interested in a second video: I didn’t hesitate.

TEAM: Katarzyna Bodziak, Johannes von Mueller

We collected and analysed pictures of vocal figures, stories, reports and historical events, and their relation to the media in all its diverse forms. Our aim was to put the politics of the media under the microscope. We examined the structure of the content as well as it’s background, and investigated the power of propaganda and censorship of the media. It was important to highlight how the viewer perceives suffering in the media and how it affects their opinions and actions. We considered the ideology that is and was associated with the Internet, and the role it could play as a catalyst for protest culture.

We found that the media, and the world wide web in particular, generates a diverse range of opinions – some of them highly controversial. Perception varies: many believe that there is potential for a utopian landscape of total freedom and ultimate democracy; many others fear Orwellian control.

The question at the heart of the work was this: are newer, faster and more direct technologies purely tools for communication, or do they hold the power to spark genuine change in society?

TEAM: Katarzyna Bodziak, Meike Detering under the supervision of Prof. Barbara Holzer and Prof. Philip Teufel  (FH Düsseldorf, edi – Exhibition Design Institute, MA Exhibition Design).

What unanswered questions remain in today’s museum scene? This idea was put to me by my professor at university in Düsseldorf. My answer evolved into a multi-facetted idea for an exhibition about Nefertiti, The Rosetta Stone, the Crown of Montezuma and the Treasures of Priam. Long ago, colonial powers removed these cultural treasures from the faraway lands where they were discovered. They were taken, sometimes in secret or by force, sometimes by deception. Sometimes everything was above board… At least according to the rudimentary legal systems of the time. Every once in a while, the artefacts were stolen from the alleged thieves, before they could get them home.

WHO DO THESE CULTURAL TREASURES BELONG TO? Is it a simple case of “finders, keepers” or should they be returned to successors of their creators? Or have they only gained in value due to the efforts of the institutions they came to be housed in? The issue is a tangled web of cryptic questions and complex answers. For that reason, the aim was not to influence, but to inform. I designed the exhibition so that the decision was left to the visitor.

On entering the exhibition space, attention is immediately drawn to a large sign hanging from the ceiling. It says “WHO DO THESE CULTURAL TREASURES BELONG TO?” The question is unavoidable.

The first clue is on the floor. Or rather, it is the floor: an interactive map of the globe highlights the countries featured in the exhibition. Each artefact is assigned a colour. When a visitor steps on a nation that played a part in the history of any of the exhibits, it lights up in the corresponding colours. What’s more, all other countries involved in the conflict turn that colour, showing the artefact’s journey from discovery to its current destination – including all its adventures in between. If more than one ancient treasure is linked to the nation that the visitor is standing on, then it glows in all relevant colours.

Now its time to take a closer look at the exhibits: the Crown of Montezuma, the Treasure of Priam, the Rosetta Stone and the Bust of Nefertiti are represented by abstract, larger-than-life models. They are almost completely white, only the edges are coloured in bright neon shades that relate to the map on the floor. But the sculptures are more than just oversized ornaments – they hide all sorts of precious information. It’s up to the visitors to discover it!

The feathers on the Crown of Montezuma open like a fan. The writing on the Rosetta Stone can be pulled out like a chest of drawers. The Treasure of Priam’s famous headdress functions like a curtain, that visitors can open to discover the story behind it. The earrings are working earphones. Each sculpture contains two forms of information: audio and visual.

As I researched the topic, I realised that it is not only a diplomatic tug-of-war. It is a highly contentious and emotive issue. I found interview footage of extremely influential people, representing their countries and their beliefs, giving impassioned speeches. When they speak, their voices are filled with anger, despair, stubbornness, mockery and pathos. I felt that guests should hear these recordings. I collated and edited the quotes, in such a way as to convey the passion and drama of the debates.

The controversial and sensitive nature of the issue is also documented by a large number of articles from newspapers and magazines. There were also a great deal of pamphlets and photos from demonstrations, not to mention other visual materials. These testimonies often highlight the depth of emotion and strength of feeling. That is what really moves us.

But we must be careful not to let this raw emotion cloud our views. Cold hard facts are just as important. The “what, when and where?” can be found on a stele in front of each sculpture, beside a picture of the genuine archeological artefact. The lower part of the stele serves as another interactive source of information.

The tickets have tear-off strips with the name and colour of each object. The visitors can place them into transparent ballot boxes integrated into the lower part of the steles. Because the votes are visible, the compartments act like a barometer of public opinion as the they fill up.

At the end of the day, the legal situation should be the decisive factor. But the disputes cannot be resolved under modern law. There is now legislation in place that would put an end to the debate. However, such laws often only recently came into force, and cannot be applied retrospectively. Others are so open to interpretation, that they actually cause more confusion. To indicate this chaos, the entire exhibition is surrounded by a metal installation that winds it’s way around the space. It’s as if the legal documents have been mixed up and blown around by a whirlwind.

Katarzyna Bodziak under the supervision of Prof. Teufel and Prof Vetter (FH Düsseldorf, edi – Exhibition Design Institute, MA Exhibition Design)

When the wedding of a befriended couple came up, I didn´t want to go for just another dinnerware set. Instead I wanted to give them something personal which would make them smile even in 50 years, when they would find the present going through old storage boxes on their attic with their twenty grandchildren…given that my gift would somehow end up in a storage box by accident.

So I decided to design their own personalised Monopoly..erm- Monogamy game. Of course all the streets on the board had to be streets of cities the bride or the groom had lived before (Luckily both had moved often enough). The last and most expensive street was the one they moved in together.
Instead of the four train stations the couple could buy four of their favourite nightclubs they used to go before they knew each other, instead of the water works and the power house they walked along the hospitals they were born in. This way I hope to have encouraged them to tell each other all the stories linked to these places in their memories and to get to know each other even better. The same idea was applied to some of the community and the event cards: I have upgraded the game a little by adding some pantomime tasks, where the players had to give away something from their past or their future longings. For example they had to explain who their biggest crush in their teen lives was or what alternative profession they would love to perform.
Some other cards featured scenes of their relationship, for example: “The neighbours didn’t like the romantic serenade you sang to your darling last night under their window- you have to pay a fine of 300 DM.”
Of course, the classic prison field had to relate to the marriage theme too- so it became the sofa you have to sleep on when your partner thinks you snore too loudly. The “free parking” field sported the first car model the couple had bought together.  The field one usually has to pay super tax became the church tax field, while the income tax was the spousal joint tax (common in Germany). Last but not least the money notes featured icons of the couples biggest common passion: both are big gourmets!

Thanks to the newlyweds for allowing me to show my present to the public- enjoy playing MONOGAMY!

The briefing was to create a room (or more precisely a cube with the measurements 2.5m x 2.5m) with a perverse atmosphere. As part of our research, we looked up the latin word “perversio” and found that it means converse, or reverse. So, if a room is defined by the space between its four walls, a perverse approach would be to completely fill this area.

In three labour-intensive days we constructed a wooden frame and wrapped it with clingfilm. A narrow slit served as the entrance, but a sheet of clingfilm suspended from the ceiling ensured that the door closed quickly. That enabled us to fill the entire space with smoke from a fog machine. The effect was impressive: when viewed from the outside, the cube appeared to be a solid, white body.

Inside the cube, the experience was exactly as we had hoped. As a result of the smoke, the walls became invisible to people on the inside looking out – it was as if the cube’s boundaries had disappeared.

TEAM: Katarzyna Bodziak, Stefan Bührer, Irene Kasjanenko under the supervision of Prof. Holder and Prof. Ziegler (HfT Stuttgart, BA Interior Architecture)

The “Schnippenburg” is an Iron Age ruin, discovered in a clearing in a forest. The foyer forms the approach to the exhibition, and reflects the ruin’s woodland setting. The effect is achieved via an all-encompassing green ribbon, which only opens up to reveal functional elements made of walnut veneer. In the centre of the room there is a large white interactive model of the archaeological site. It is the only thing that remains completely untouched by the green ribbon – just as the ruin was left untouched by the forest. It is located just in front of a floor-to-ceiling display window, designed to arouse curiosity and attract visitors. A tree graphic on the window, which can also be found inside, enhances the effect from outside the building.

TEAM: Katarzyna Bodziak, Christoph Rhein, Angelika Vogel under the lead of Space 4