Neo Nature reflects on the representation of nature in bathroom products.
While the natural world is degrading, this nature is surrounding us in our daily lives. Within the video’s we do not see the products, just the plants taken from these products. With this, a new nature emerges.
With a research investigation on greenwashing and the role of the designer in this, the work wants to question the use of plants on packaging. Throughout the working process, Jurel visited all the bathrooms of her friends and family to get an idea on the extend of the plants used on the products. The bathrooms shown in the video are each showing a plant that was found on a product in that bathroom.
Neo Nature
2021
The mirror shows a database of more than 300 plants found on bathroom products. On the side we see the shape of the bottle where the plant was found. The database is giving speculative information about the plants based on the products, and their function.
Neo Nature is closely linked with my bachelor thesis: ‘Greenwashing and Design’ where I question the responsibility of the designer in greenwashing. In times of an ecological crisis, it is important to be critical of green claims that companies are transferring awards the public. In the thesis greenwashing is explained and the connection between greenwashing and design is made. To highlight the situation two case studies are presented which are: Ogilvy & Mather and BP, and DDB Unlimited and KLM. The responsibility of the designer in greenwashing is questioned and analyzed using a questionnaire.
