German designers Kai Linke and Peter Eckart have created an exhibition for the London Design Biennale in which disposable plastic cutlery is displayed as archaeological artefacts.
Informed by the European Union's ban on single-use plastic cutlery, Spoon Archaeology aims to respond to the biennale's theme, Can we design a better world"
Top: spoons are arranged in a colour pattern. Above: single-use plastic items are displayed in cases
The German installation is one of 29 exhibitions by different countries and regions at the London Design Biennale. It was curated by Thomas A Geisler and is a collection of utensils that the designers collected over a time period of 20 years.
Spoon Archaeology was organised and designed as a study that presents single-use plastic as if displayed in "a natural history museum," where the items have become artefacts. Different utensils are grouped together
"Presented in frames, where normally dead insects are presented in natural history exhibition, the cutlery becomes artefacts of a culture, which has to change in a basic way ? not only by changing plastic materials to so-called 'eco-friendly' materials," Kai Linke and Peter Eckart told Dezeen.
"The collection started by chance and separately between Kai and Peter. It grew over nearly 20 years. First as curiosity, later as representative for design and design process."

The Spoon Archaeology cutlery is displayed in light wood cases placed in the centre of the ro...