Design The Future

Design the future was the title of an exhibition showcasing the work of Micah Purnell. His work includes stickers and flyposters, which are found on walls and in freely distributed packets of club advertising material (e.g Don't panic) among other places.

Some of his work is popular, designed to sell at affordable prices in limited edition poster format, which indicates his profession as a graphic designer. The flyposters are designed in a similar style to night club advertising. It seems like clubbers are the target audience for this avenue of Purnell's work; certainly the nature of the art you make will heavily influence who looks at it. There are therefore two elements to his work; the actual design and then the 'political' act of placing his work in public places.

The most obvious design feature in the work is the use of maxims and sayings. The phrases are often spiritually concerned ('look after your soul') and sometimes biblical in origin ('you are more valuable than all the birds of the air'). As far as I understand it, the latter statement speaks in its original context about deprioritising the pursuit of possessions. This context seems readily applicable in the realm of advertising, although it is more likely to be interpreted as a statement of human worth.

Are his flyposters successful at 'redeeming advertising space'? Certainly they fit in and successfully take a fraction of advertising's audience - his guerrilla work has attracted much media attention. On one level many of the messages in his work are subtly thought provoking, and advertising that provokes 'non-commercial' thought is a kind of success. A critic may write the work off because of clear Christian references. However all artwork has a motive behind it and I respect his; as his website says - 'work as if you are working for someone you love'.

Also included in the exhibition were some not for sale pieces. I suspect they were not for sale due to potential copyright issues; two were photographs of high street shop window displays. Both displays featured near naked models. Purnell placed text over the images - some quotes from John Berger on the construction of  glamour, and some personal reflections on the effect of these images on young children. I think these direct responses were some of the strongest work, perhaps more suited to a strictly 'fine art' audience than his other, more design based works.

MicahPurnell.com

http://www.manchestersalon.org.uk/design-the-future-micah-purnell.html