the cabinet of the (material & virtual) world is a design project combining physical objects and digital
presence. the cabinet is the creation of jon stam, a canadian designer based out of the netherlands and
belgium. as stam succinctly puts it ‘the objects to which we ascribe meaning are central in determining our
place in the world. however, in our contemporary society ‘things of meaning’ can no longer be solely
placed within the physical realm. this cabinet brings together both the material and virtual worlds with
sixteen drawers for physical archiving on one face and sixteen corresponding engraved patterns linking
to digital data on the other.’ the digital side uses dot matrix barcodes that when viewed through a camera
phone or computer allow the user to access digital data such as photos or videos. the barcodes are
permanent, but can be reprogrammed to link to new content. the design takes inspiration from historical
curio cabinets of the sixteenth and seventeenth century and re-interprets it in a contemporary context.

http://www.commonplace.nl