Played dishes by Mickey Philips

“As the world is getting smaller, everything is within our reach, accessible, to follow, to see and to discover… and at the same time distances between people are increasing. Relationships become more superficial, more automated, impersonal, less tangible and it is every man for himself… But it is exactly in times like these, as we bear the consequences of the financial crisis, as entire populations are on the run and tensions between different groups are increasing, that we need each other. We need to connect, not dissolve. We need to get together again.

That’s what I want to achieve with my work and with my designs. That my designs provoke people to enter the table and sit down with each other again. To share, and to exchange, to try new things, to open their eyes and to open up to the unknown and to each other.

PLAYED to Play it. Play. To come into motion. Towards each other. PLAYED is a series of plates which together create a single object. On the table or on the wall. Ten plates in total. Nobody gets their own plate: the individual plates all make for one great and overall whole, as ten separate elements for every person at the table … to share.

It is an object that people join around together. To eat together. Through it, the people at the table literally come into contact and are connected to each other. More aware of each other and more aware of what they are eating. It’s not just a new product, but also a new way of eating and communicating… inspired by an old habit: sharing food. A product and concept that brings together different people, disciplines and cultures. To break habits, open eyes and to stir interest in others.”

text by Mickey Philips
images by Pam Kat

Dutch Design Blog