List of products by brand Studio Marte Mei
Companion species cabinet is a puzzle made from beech, pine and ceramics.
The ceramics are glazed with wood ash from the same two tree species.
The green-tones come from the different regions the trees have grown, as they are a result of the nutrients the tree has absorbed.
Beech and Pine are companion species: they thrive when growing side by side. The work imagines the human as a potential third companion species, as it investigates the power dynamics, as well as mutually beneficial relationships, between trees and their caretakers in a production forest. The modularity of the ceramic pieces emphasises how design choices impact the landscape indirectly, using whatever wood is the result from healthy diverse forest.
Marte Mei van Haaster (NL, 1992) is a designer based in Amsterdam. Her practice is centred around allyship with nature. She translates site-specific research into tangible and unique custom handcrafted pieces, using her design methodology; Land-Allyship. Through this approach, she explores how, as a designer, we can collaborate with nature in creating pieces. Her site-specific approach to materials and crafts result in unique pieces and interiors that aim to connect a person to their surroundings. Viewing materials as part of an ecosystem, a cycle, to which they once belonged and one day may return.
