Designers for Japan: Pandora’s Box

2011
The Conran Shop Marunouchi
Tokyo

Barnbrook contributed a limited edition artwork to CASE study, a fundraising event, at The Conran Shop, Marunouchi, Tokyo. CASE study invited designers such as Ron Arad and Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec to contribute a unique object to be sold, with the proceeds going to the Japanese earthquake relief fund.

The piece is based on the famous greek myth of ‘Pandora’s box’: when all of the ills of the world were released by Pandora – the first woman on earth – from a box given to her by Zeus. The story usually has negative connotations; when somebody opens Pandora’s box they do something bad that cannot be stopped. What is less well known about the story, is that there was something left in the box: letters which make up the word hope. The hope after the hours of the earthquake became the focus of this project.