For All

The Federal Bureau of Goods Issuance was established 20 years ago to identify products suitable for decommodification, and to develop standardized alternatives to these items for universal public issuance. In this touring retrospective exhibition, the Bureau highlights several touchstone projects from its history, inviting the public for a look behind the scenes at how the Bureau’s Office of Design and Development creates some of the products we use today.

This project proposes a fiction upending an idea that underlies much of design as it is currently practiced: That the designer’s function is to contribute to an abundance of differentiated options in the marketplace. The objects featured explore how design might proceed if designers were asked not to appeal to individuals, but to service a society. This project welcomes the visitor to indulge a longing for a world where dominant notions of freedom are not defined in terms of consumer choice.