Project: Weapons of Mass Destruction(2010/11)

Description: A politically engaging and multi-contextual design object developed together by designers Florian de Visser, Stijn van der Vleuten and David Luxembourg a.k.a. 'Been There. Done That.'

'Weapons of Mass Destruction' is a Pillow inspired both by the form of 3rd stage propulsion unit of a Trident II ICBM and the form of early atom bomb Little Boy. The device comes with a Clock that can be attached to the pillow, either with a belt or magnet, indicating either local regional time or the local time at 1 of the 15 Nuclear Club leading members (and member wannabees) who are making the news, playing the int. existential W.M.D. high stakes game.

15 attachable/ detachable flags, representing these news making nuclear club countries, as well as 2 peace flags and 1 custom flag, for the user to make their own statement with, are also a part of this design object.

These flags can be attached to the pillow and could be replaced on daily basis, according to who is making the news, world & users’ own opinion.





Weapons of mass destruction-detail Weapons of mass destruction box for weapons of mass destruction box for weapons of mass destruction Weapons of mass destruction-detail Strange Love...

Developed during 2010, a year marked with a nuclear ambitions power struggle, the aim of W.M.D. is to draw attention to and criticize the ongoing 'game' played by governments of the so called members of the nuclear club (states like US, UK, Russia, China, France, Pakistan, India, etc.) and the governments of new 'wannabe' members of that club (states like N. Korea, Iran, Syria, Burma etc.) as it is featured through and in various international forums such as the UN, IAEA int. disarmament agreements; NDP, CWC and the media.

At the expanses of humanity, a war of information is raging on, as people all over the world are exposed daily to campaigns of disinformation and misinformation aiming to create a political movement that will allow some of the 'players' to force their way with others, even non nuclear club member states.

In the end of the day those who do read the news are left utterly confused, misinformed and misguided with their opinions about 'Who has what?' and 'What are they going to do with it?'..

Will we ever learn to stop worrying and love the bomb? 		Strangelove A moment of Epiphany.

Looking at this world wide political mess got us thinking - Shouldn't this be what it is all about. --->

 Peace on earth It is a bit of a statement but maybe calling it a statement is a bit too much:

‘Been There. Done That’
is about design.
And it is about the real world.
Actually it is about using the real world
to reflect upon the design world.

So it is about being different.
It is about being critical and serious.
And it is about using your sense of
humor and having some fun.
You could say it is about keeping a
balance between light and heavy.
In which case it is about taking it easy and being smart.

So it is about perspectives.
And it is about a universal truth.
Which is basically being constantly
masked by or dressed up by reality,
Or at least what we think is reality.

So I guess it is really about postmodernism or nihilism.
Yet, for sure it is about making statements,
Or telling stories,
Or letting our work tell our stories.

To be continued... 		time is ticking 25. Weapons Of mass Destruction (2010-11)

Concept & Design: Been There. done That.
Photography: David Luxembourg, florian de Visser, Stijn van der Vleuten

(c) All rights reserved, yeah! All of them.
+++ Yoad David Luxembourg & Been There. Done That. 2012.