christien meindertsma: PIG 05049 book

PIG 05049 book by christien meindertsma all images courtesy of christien meindertsma

this year’s INDEX:award play category winner was christien meindertsma with PIG 05049. the purpose behind the project is to help people in our highly industrialized and packaged world, understand the process of how things are made and where they come from, researching more specifically, all the products made from a single pig. 05049 was an actual pig which was raised and slaughtered on a commercial farm in rotterdam, the netherlands. through her research, meindertsma discovered she was able to track 185 products which the pig contributed to. some of the surprising results were ammunition, bio diesel, chewing gum, cosmetics, cigarettes and medicine.

meindertsma’s design includes the publication of her book PIG 05049 which illustrates charts and pictures of each of the products which the animal was used in. instead of addressing conditions of how farm animals are handled or discussing the various religious issues surrounding the pig in certain cultures, meindertsma was mostly interested in expressing the implications for conservation efforts, ‘in taking good care of the earth, basically, the first step is knowing where our things come from,’ she says.

spine detail of the book

stamp marking on the book

the various numbered parts of the pig used in various products

the snout is often eaten

parts of pig are also in porcelain

the manufacturing of paint also includes pig

information graphics

information about pigs are indicated throughout the book

various product outcomes which include pig as part of their manufacturing