everyone present is armed (on table settings and the politics of hospitality), 2022
everyone present is armed is a publication produced to culminate a month-long research trip around the Nordic region. Taking tables and table settings as a catalyst into a larger conversation regarding hospitality, domesticity, gender roles, and labour, our research spanned various archives, collections, exhibitions, and museums. Throughout May 2022, we travelled through Helsinki, Stockholm, Rindö, Älmhult, Malmö, Copenhagen, and finished our trip in Reykjavík, where we presented our research in the form of this publication. everyone present is armed was printed in an edition of 100.
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The envelope design was inspired by invitation cards found in the Hotel and Restaurant Museum archive in Helsinki. This table arrangement graphic was often used to inform the guest where they would be seated. Each riso printed envelope is hand editioned numerically, with a corresponding x on the front.
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The title card consists of a silk screened paper knife and a place card where the knife rests.
A postcard edition with an image of documentation of a table setting from the Hotel and Restaurant Museum in Helsinki.
A riso printed card with an instructional text excerpt from The American Waiter book, as well as a table service diagram for waiters.
A riso printed index of terms and diagrams found throughout our research. On the reverse side is a Swedish Smörgåsbordet diagram.
A riso printed card of two photographs by Gunnar Lundh from the Nordiska Museet archives in Stockholm. The reverse side of a card contains details of our research trip.