Flat File

Deconstructing modern art through bootleg exhibition merchandise

Deconstructing modern art through bootleg exhibition merchandise

Flat File deconstructs and bootlegs vintage art exhibition posters and imagines what a good museum merch program could be. It ended after only three releases due to cease and desist orders. The project was featured in GQ, WSJ, and Gear Patrol.

Details

Background

‍

Despite the demand for well-designed exhibit merchandise, many museums offer little to none, while the names of modernist artists are often licensed to mass-market brands. These companies frequently contradict the very ethos of the artists they profit from, reducing radical ideas to aesthetic commodities.

Iconic exhibition advertisements and programs used as reference points

Iconic exhibition advertisements and programs used as reference points

Iconic exhibition advertisements and programs used as reference points

Nothing to load
Nothing to load
Previous
/
Next
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
Nothing to load
Nothing to load
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
This isn’t loading right now
Nothing to load
Nothing to load
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
Nothing to load
Nothing to load
Nothing to load
Nothing to load
Nothing to load
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
A photograph of a brown REI rain jacket.
Nothing to load
Nothing to load
Nothing to load

Ideas cannot be owned. They belong to whoever understands them. The piece takes a physical form and becomes an object. This object may be possessed. ‘A work of art,’ says Gertrude Stein, ‘is either priceless or worthless.’”


Sol LeWitt