Pig 05049 by Christien Meindertsma
To summarise, Pig 05049 is a book to simply show how just 1 animal's resources could be used to be made into many everyday products in our lives. Christien had carried out her research for 3 years; she followed a pig, pig 05049, until the end when all of it has been used. At the end of her research, she found that pig 05049 was made into 185 products. In her book, it shows the dissection of the pig with the progress on how each products are made too. Some of the products included are fine bone china, paint, train brake, bread, butter, beer, cigarettes, bullet and her favourite of all: the heart valve. She mentioned in her TED talk that "we have no clue on what the stuff around us are what made of" and because she was interested in raw materials and production, it led her to make this book, to learn where the raw materials come from and what the things we use are made of (Meindertsma, C., n.d.).
I think it's eye opening because I learned that just from 1 pig, it could be used to make into so many things; my favourite thing would be the cigarette (PIG 05049., n.d.). The pig's haemoglobin is put into cigarettes to act as an "artificial lung" to filter the harmful chemical reactions, before it reaches to the smoker. I think that it's so cool that such a concept exists!
i love that she paid attention to the details for the cover of the book. the use of the pig tag is such a smart idea! it helps me visualise even more with the help of these details.
it's interesting that for 3 years, she actually kept tracked of what the pig's resources were used for, down to the tail. it's amazing that she also collected the specimens and product samples itself for the visuals of the book. i was really interested in what the rest of the book holds and luckily i found a vimeo video of a flip through of the whole book, uploaded by her.
another detail i love from the book would be the way she categorised the pigs, with the use of illustrations and specifications like the weight of the pig.
my first thought looking at this: "there's pig in copper?!"
Meindertsma, C. (2020, May 9). Retrieved May 10, 2020, from https://vimeo.com/10717795
Meindertsma, C. (n.d.). Retrieved May 9, 2020, from https://www.ted.com/talks/christien_meindertsma_how_pig_parts_make_the_world_turn?language=en
PIG 05049. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://christienmeindertsma.com/PIG-05049
Pig 05049. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://designobserver.com/feature/pig-05049/10727
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